Angel of Mine
by Dariel
Summary: AU In a lab, hidden from the entire world, he grows up as the product of a forbidden experiment. Everything went well until the day he discovers the world and decides to explore it against his creator's will.. DONE!
1. Bad News

10/06/2007: I just changed a few things in the first and second chapter, nothing that would affect the storyline though. I just wanted it to flow a little better so that my dear readers wouldn't be scared off :P

- ANGEL OF MINE -

"_Today, is a special day. A day that'll make history. Not to say this day IS history! The genetic code of the human being had been deciphered completely! A team of research scientists proclaimed this piece of news at a press conference, only two hours ago. Now, the hard work begins to find the function of the 30000 genes of the human genome. Maybe it'll be possible to heal incurable diseases, in the near future. The biggest fear of the critics was that this knowledge could be abused but the scientists said that the genetic code of the human being wouldn't be used for any kind of unethical experiments..." _

* * *

CHAPTER 1 Bad News

* * *

Her husband was driving her nuts. 

"Goau, please, stop it!" Varie was usually very patient and hardly raised her voice but he was annoying her beyond sanity.

He stopped in the middle of his tracks at the sound of her angry voice and looked up. He had paced a ditch into the kitchen floor.

"What's the matter, Varie?" He looked tired, his dark hair dishevelled and the glow of his eyes lost in the shadows that lingered around them.

"Frankly speaking, right now you annoy the crap out of me." Her arms were folded in front of her chest and her right foot tapped the ground impatiently. "Can you please just sit down?"

He ran a hand over his beard and sat down in a chair. "I'm sorry." He placed his elbows on the table and laid his head into his hands. He hadn't slept very well this night. He hadn't slept very well for a lot of nights.

"You're so nervous." Varie placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I'm starting to wonder if I'm pregnant or if you are."

A small smile appeared on his handsome face. "You, of course," he replied, putting his left hand on Varie's soft one. "It's just, you know...," his voice trailed off while he massaged his wife's hand.

"The ultrasound pictures," he sighed and looked out of the window.

It was a picture-perfect day with the whole bright blue sky, cheery birds in the trees and spring flower colors going for it. It so completely contradicted his dark mood that he wanted to go outside in the garden and rip out Varie's flowers. It was ridiculous.

"I know. I'm afraid, too," she squeezed his calloused hand. "But the doctor said that stuff like that happens sometimes and mostly disappears again. So, don't worry."

Goau snorted. "It didn't disappear in every case. What if...," he stopped. He didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to imagine what could happen.

Varie's grip tightened around his shoulder but she didn't say anything. The silence between them was filled with their worries, with words unspoken, and all they could do was hold onto each other.

A loud rumble from above suddenly scattered all their thoughts like sheets of paper in a drought.

"FOLKEN LACOUR DE FANEL!" they shouted in unison and looked to the door.

"Aww, all my names," said a young voice and a boy appeared in the doorway, an innocent smile on his face. He wore light blue jeans and a green t-shirt. His aqua-blue hair hung into his mischievously sparkling eyes and his hands were hidden in his pockets. He looked as if he was just about to cook something up.

"How often did I tell you not to run down the stairway?" Varie had a dangerous glow in her eyes.

"A thousand times?" Folken replied and the smile on his face widened.

"Thousand and one!" The anger that had welled up inside her quickly disappeared again. She knew this boy would one day be the death of her with this big eyes and brilliant smile of his. And he knew about the devastating power he had over his mother. "You could break your neck. Sweety, I'm just worried."

The boy sighed. Why were mothers always so overprotective? He wasn't a baby anymore! "I know, mum."

She just looked at him, knowing that he was being honest and knowing that he would have forgotten about it as soon as the front door closed behind him. "Where are you off to?"

"I wanna go to the basketball court at the mall," he answered and rocked impatiently back and forth on his heels, causing his mother to raise her brows and fold her arms in front of her chest again.

"Together with the twins?" his father questioned quickly with an understanding look on his face before Varie could say something. Mothers could be very overprotective.

Folken ran a hand through his hair and nodded. "Yeah, Naria and Eriya asked if I wanted to go with them and I said yes." He gnawed on his lip, hoping his mother wouldn't forbid it.

The fridge hummed in the silence. "I don't know if...," Varie started to say and little Folken immediately threw his father a look that screamed "Hurry up and say something before she can forbid it!"

Goau smiled and stood from the chair. He placed a warm hand on her shoulder. "Varie, just let him go. He'll be fine." Folken nodded his head enthusiastically as if feeling to support his father's words.

"Well, it's just...you know...when the three of them are together, they're getting up to mischiev." Varie had her eyes focused on her child and her look spoke of everything he wished for her to forget about.

"But Mum, it was just one time!" Folken complained. He knew his mother was just about to say no. "And it wasn't that bad. I survived!"

"Not that bad? Not that bad?" Her voice was a little bit louder and a little bit higher than it was healthy for his ears. Just to say it was painful. He should have known that mentioning this incident was a very bad idea. Now, his mother had every reason to forbid him to ever take one step out of the door.

"You fell in a sewer pipe! You could have died!" Varie said, remembering the events.

"I know, Mum." Folken avoided to look his mother in the eye.

"You sat in that dirty and icy cold water for more than three hours until the firemen rescued you!" his mother continued with a shaking voice.

Folken still looked to the ground. "I know, Mum." Yeah, it had been very dangerous and he had been scared out of his wits for probably the first time in his young life but he had survived it. And most of it all, Naria and Eriya weren't the ones to blame!

"And don't-" Goau finally took pity with his poor boy and interrupted his wife carefully.

"Varie, calm down," he said soothingly and squeezed her shoulders softly. "It is in the past. He survived it and we should be grateful. Plus, I think that sitting in that pipe was punishment enough. I do believe the three of them will never play such stupid games again. So, let him go. He'll be very careful, right?" Goau ended, looking at his son.

Folken nodded furiously that his bluish hair went flying and his eyes glowed. Varie looked at him and smiled lightly.

"Well, I can't win against the two of you, can I?" Varie sighed in defeat. "But please, be careful."

"Of course, Mum." Folken grinned happily and gave his mother a peck on the cheek. "Thank you!" he then chanted and hugged his father hard.

"Alright Folken, you're breaking my ribs." Goau tried to free himself from Folken's grip. "Now go!"

The boy released his grip and turned around hastily before his parents could change their mind. He knew them quite well and it wouldn't be the first time they did this. "Good bye!" he said, waving his hand and reached for the doorknob at the back door. It was when his mother's voice stopped him.

"Hey, and what about your little brother?" she asked, raising her brows.

"Ah, I forgot!" Folken turned around. He walked back to his mother and encircled the ball that was her belly. "Good bye, Van. Hurry up, I want you to meet Naria and Eriya," he whispered.

Hearing Folken's words, Varie stopped stroking his silky hair. What did he just say? But before she could open her mouth to reply, Folken stormed out of the door.

* * *

Houses and trees flew by like the seconds on her silver watch. Goau had given it to her as a birthday present. Her twentieth birthday. She smiled and leaned her forehead against the cold car window. She remembered that day like it was yesterday. His smile when he stood at her door with the twenty red and yellow balloons in his hand. The mischievous glow in his brown eyes when he saw her jaw fall open. They had known each other for only two months and he had given her this wonderful and so expensive present. She had never bought another watch. 

For all the fifteen years since he had given it to her she had always worn this watch. It meant a lot to her. A beautiful memory.

It was as if this simple little watch was a symbol for both of their lives. For the life they shared. They looked ahead, never back. They walked straight into the future like the delicate hands on her watch. Sometimes maybe afraid but always straight. And when it seemed that suddenly everything stopped, that there was no chance, they tried to find a way to live on and they always found a way. They had never given up. It didn't matter if there were parents who were against the marriage or problems concerning a certain blue-haired boy.

It had been the hardest test they ever had to go through. Folken's birth. It had been a difficult birth. The doctors had said that she never would be able to bear a child again. It had been a hard time for her. And then, one day she had reached her limit. At that time there was no more will to live. She had fallen into a hole, pitch-black and inconceivably deep. And when she had thought that she would never be able to leave it ever again, he had been there. He had been at her side all the time and had held her hand with such patience and sympathy. He had pulled her out of that hole with all his strength and had comforted her by saying that as long as the three of them were together, everything would be alright.

And they were indeed alright. She was even pregnant again. It was a miracle that nobody ever believed would happen. Folken would have a little brother. The ultrasound pictures showed that it was a boy. A wonderful little boy. The first clear ultrasound picture appeared in front of her eyes. A small 'thing' curled up, hardly discernible as a human being. But there had been something in this picture that shouldn't have been there. Something that scared her. It seemed that destiny had put another obstacle in their way. It seemed to be the price for the miracle. You don't get anything for nothing in the world. But she would be strong. She wasn't alone. He was at her side together with her little son. And for her unborn son's sake she would be strong.

Suddenly, she felt a gentle touch on her hand which made her snap out of her thoughts. She turned around and spotted her husband smiling at her warmly. He looked as if he knew every thought which had just swirled through her mind. She returned the smile.

"We arrived, Varie," Goau whispered softly.

Varie looked out of the window and saw the huge hospital building directly towering in front of her. Hundreds of windows reflected the sunlight and made her narrow her eyes. Finally, they had reached it. She felt uneasy. The young mother had started to hate hospitals because she had always gotten bad news when she was inside of such a damn building.

The car door to her right swung open slowly and a gentle hand appeared, offering her help. She smiled lightly. As if she wasn't able to get off the car by herself.

"Thank you, Goau. But I can do it myself." Varie pushed his hand softly away.

Goau shrugged, a light grin on his handsome face. He leaned against the car beside him and watched his wife. She held to the frame of the car and tried to pull herself off the seat. She managed half of the way and then her arms gave way. She fell back in the seat. Hell, she weighed a ton.

Hearing her husband chuckle, she threw him her death glare and he was silent at once. She snorted and tried to rise again. And again. And-

"Dammit, you won. Now, help me!" Varie snarled impatiently.

"As you wish, Your Highness." Goau bowed deeply and grabbed her wrist. He pulled her up with no effort and locked the door.

The angry look on Varie's face vanished and was replaced by a look of pure fear. She was afraid of what she would hear. She closed her eyes, feeling the cool spring breeze making her hair fly and the summer-like sun caressing her face.

Goau took her arm and led her to the huge glass doors of the hospital entrance. With a quiet hum they swung open, revealing a long hallway. Reluctantly, they entered the building. At once, they were surrounded by the typical hospital smells and noises. Smells of disinfectant and illness and noises of people talking in the waiting room and medical equipment. She hated it.

When they passed the information stand the nurse just waved them through. "Dr. Nakamura is already awaiting you."

They nodded and continued their way towards Dr. Nakamura's room. Every time, it was the same way. The same way along these endless halls being so damn threatening. White walls which seemed to grow every second. White walls which seemed to move up closer and closer with every step they took. White walls which were just about to crush them. White walls which...Varie shook her head. It was fear, pure fear which caused these hallucinations. She tightened the grip around Goau's arm and tried to ignore the steady sound of their footsteps echoing through the empty halls. She hated that sound. She hated it like she hated this place and these smells.

Fortunately, they soon reached their destination. "Scan" was written on the door with ominous black letters. Today, it seemed that even the letters were harbinger of bad news. Goau knocked hesitantly on the door and the sound echoed through the hall, causing shivers down Varie's spine. It was a cold sound. So damn cold.

Before Goau could reach the door knob the door was pulled open from inside. A man appeared in the doorway, clearly discernible as a doctor. His white coat shone in the bright light of the halogen lamp. His once black hair was now grey and his face had a lot of wrinkles, but his dark-brown eyes were clear and wise. A nameplate at his coat identified him as Dr. Fuma Nakamura.

"Ah, the Fanels!" he said in a good mood, opening the door completely. "Come in."

Goau and Varie entered the room and waited for Dr. Nakamura to close the door. They didn't look around. It was the same room. Nothing had changed since they had been here the last time. White and clean. Sterile. Empty walls. Silver metal equipment on tables and closets. Strange.

"And how are you this morning?" Dr. Nakamura shook at first Varie's and then Goau's hand.

"Fine," Varie answered flatly. How should she feel? He was going to examine her and maybe would tell her something to worry about! How should a mother feel?

"And little Van?" he asked again.

"I hoped you could tell me." Her voice shook and she tried to swallow her nervousness.

Dr. Nakamura patted her hand. "Oh, Mrs. Fanel, don't be afraid. Everything will be alright. Let me see, hm?"

Goau gave her an encouraging smile and she took a deep breath. Everything would be alright. Everthing would be alright.

She was stretched out on the examination bed and stared at the ceiling while the doctor was running the scanner across her round tummy. She heard a strange noise and at once a picture appeared at the screen beside her. It was a mess of black and white. Varie stiffened at the sight of it, her heart beating frantically. What would she see? Would her unborn son be alright? Would it be gone?

"What do you see?" she asked, not able to bear the strain anymore. She had tried to read Dr. Nakamura's face but it was easier to read the feelings of a stone plate.

"Hmm." And this simple 'Hmm' seemed to confirm every single worry, weakening Varie's body. All the fear she had felt during the last weeks was now clasping her heart in a death grip. Crushing it and making her muscles tense so hard that it hurt.

"Ah, Varie," Goau winced. "You're breaking my hand. Please, calm down."

Varie looked at her husband, his eyes full of pain. She had clutched Goau's hand painfully without noticing it. Her nails had dug deep into his hand. His eyes begged her to let go and she did hastily. He rubbed his hand carefully and looked at her.

"Are you okay?" He caressed her soft cheek.

"I don't know," she answered weakly and turned around to face the doctor. His face was still unreadable.

Dr. Nakamura pointd at the screen "Well, over there, you can see at the back of the..."

"The abnormality?" Varie asked in a high voice. "The abnormality is still there?"

"Well, it looks like...," he trailed off, seeing Varie's eyes widen in pure shock.

Varie tried to rise from the bed. "No! No!"

"Varie, please," Goau said quietly and pressed her softly onto the bed again.

She stared at him. "But Goau, didn't you hear? The deformation is still there!"

"I know." Varie stopped trying to free herself from his grip and looked at him. His eyes were sad. "I know, Varie. But we can't change it. The only thing we can do is to accept it. You hear me? We must accept it."

"But...," she tried to protest.

"No, he'll survive it." Goau turned around to look at Dr. Nakamura. "Am I right?"

The doctor remained silent. "Am I right?" Goau repeated his question, a bit louder this time. He hoped with all his heart that the doctor simply hadn't heard what he had just asked. But it seemed Dr. Nakamura had understood quite well.

"Well actually, these deformations aren't rare. A lot of unborn children have bone-abnormalities," Dr. Nakamura explained. "They usually disappear before the seventh month of pregnancy. You have already reached the seventh month so it is highly unlikely that the one of your child will disappear-"

"That's not the answer to my question," Goau interupted him harshly.

"I've never seen something like that before. The foetus has two quite big bone abnormalities," the doctor continued after a short silence and pointed at the picture in front of him. "One at each shoulder blade. It's possible that the umbilical cord will get into a tangle with the unnecessary bones when the foetus shifts his position."

A quiet sob escaped Varie's throat and she put her hands over her mouth. She sobbed again and the tears started to stream down her cheeks. At first several ones but then more and more tears rushed down her face. She grabbed Goau's shirt and pulled him closer towards her. Leaning against his chest, she cried. She dug her fingers into the fabric of his shirt at his back but he didn't care. He encircled her trembling body, trying to comfort her.

Distracted by the turn of events, the two of them didn't notice the small eye which was watching them. It was the small eye of a white camera in the upper corner of the white room.

* * *

The camera sent everything it observed via cable through walls, ceilings and floors. The pictures travelled a long distance until they reached an isolated dark room five floors above the scan room. It was a small room that was stuffed with screens and computers standing at several tables. There were no windows, just one metal door. The only light illuminating the room was the flickering white light of the screens. It caused an eerie atmosphere. The camera's view appeared on one of the screens in front of three people. They sat on simple chairs looking at the screen in concentration. 

"And Marlene, what do you say?" asked the deep and old voice of a man.

The woman inspected the pile of papers lying in her lap closer. She wore an excellent business dress suit. A black skirt and black shoes with high heels made her well-shaped legs seem longer. A white blouse and a black coat completed her appearance. Her long blond hair was tamed into a ponytail and her ocean-blue eyes scanned the paper she held in her delicate hands.

"Can you please show me the ultrasound picture, Kazuya?" she asked the young technical engineer, sitting in a chair in front of a computer.

He entered some numbers and orders. "Of course, Dr. Aston."

Soon the picture at the computer screen was replaced by the same ultrasound picture Varie and Goau had just seen. Marlene shifted her position to have a better look at the ultrasound picture. When she moved the light emitted from the screen was reflected on something fastened to her coat. It was a small, rectangular identification card. "Dr. Marlene Aston" was written with slim, black letters on the lower part of the card. The whole upper part was occupied by a huge firm logo- "Dornkirk Inc."

"I would say everything seems alright. The foetus has developed quite well since last time I saw him. He looks healthy and strong. A normal foetus at the stage of seven months, apart from the little detail which makes him absolutely unique on this whole planet." She outlined absently the abnormalities clearly visible at the screen with her index finger.

"And you think this time it'll work out?" the man beside her asked again.

"Yes, I'm sure." The young woman nodded enthusiastically. "I know a few of the other embryos reached the seventh month and died later but I have a feeling that this one here is different. He's a lot stronger than the other ones. His parents' genes were perfect. He'll survive."

"That's good to hear," the man said and turned to the TV screen again, his purple eyes glowing in the pale light. "What did Fuma tell them?"

Marlene turned to the screen which showed the camera view. "I think he told them what I recommended...that he hadn't seen something like that before and that it could be dangerous for the unborn child." She shrugged.

"Perfect." A smile lit up his face. "Kazuya, please show me the statistics of the failures."

Kazuya nodded hastily. "Yes, Dr. Dornkirk. As you wish."

* * *

**A/N:** Yeah, that was all. It's just the prologue. The next chapter will be the second and last part of the prologue and then... I won't say anything. Hehe. Read and find out. 

Oh hey, don't forget to review, okay? Okay? Okay. I need to know what you think about it. Please, tell me!!!!!

Till next time!!!!

Dariel


	2. Shattered World

Hey everyone! I'm back!!! So this is chapter 2 and the last part of the prologue!!! I hope you enjoy it!!!

DISCLAIMER: Yeah, we all know that I don't own Escaflowne. Sad but true.

* * *

CHAPTER 2 Shattered World

* * *

"Don't worry, Varie." Goau smiled warmly and knocked lightly at the brown-painted door in front of him.

Don't worry, Varie? Didn't she have every right to worry? Why was he so calm? He should be worried too! Today, they would see! But maybe she was overreacting. Maybe there was no need to worry. The doctor had said that Van was healthy when he had examined her the last time. Maybe there was really no need to worry. Maybe she should just calm down a bit. Varie smiled back at Goau, taking a deep breath and then looked at the door which was opened from inside. A tall woman in a red summer-dress appeared in the doorway, shoulderlong blond hair framing her delicate face. She smiled brightly and her deep-blue eyes sparkled when she spotted her guests.

"Varie! Goau! And my little Folken!" she said cheerfully in a melodic voice. "Come in!"

She stepped aside and allowed her guests to enter. Folken was the first who stepped into the house.

"Where are Naria and Eriya?" He stepped impatiently from side to side.

"They are upstairs in their room," the woman replied and smiled. "They are awaiting you."

Folken grinned and without waiting any longer he dashed off, heading to the stairway. He was just about to place his right foot on the first step when his mother's voice stopped him.

"Folken!" she said angrily, making him turn around and smile innocently. "Didn't you forget anything?"

The boy thought hard about his mother's question and scratched his head. "Ah," he then said and walked back to his parents. He stopped in front of the woman who had opened the door. "Hello, auntie Maya," he said and hugged her.

"Hello, Folken-darling." She hugged him back tightly.

"Am I allowed to go now?" Folken looked at his mother and she nodded.

Hastily, he turned around and ran up the stairway. Varie sighed when he disappeared behind a door and she heard the shrieks of the girls.

"It's always the same with him." She shook her head with a smile.

"Don't worry, Varie," Maya said and hugged her. "My twins aren't any better."

The blond haired woman then turned to Goau and greeted him warmly as well. "Hey, Goau. My husband is in the living room."

Goau grinned and bowed. "Ladies," he said and then walked into the living room, the giggles of the women following him.

"Come on, Varie." Maya was still smiling. "Let's go into the kitchen."

Varie nodded and followed Maya, watching as she walked gracefully. She looked down her own body and everything she saw was her big round belly. Varie looked up again and stared at Maya's slim silhouette. Oh how she envied her. But soon, her existence as a barrel would end. She smiled lightly and touched her belly.

"Don't you dare ruining my figure, Van!" she whispered playfully and then looked back at Maya.

They had become close friends after Folken's visit in the urban sewerage system. Maya had been there all the time. She had called the firemen, she had guided them to the pipe where Folken had sat in, she had comforted Varie while Goau and Setsuna, Maya's husband, had helped to rescue Folken. Varie knew that Maya had felt incredibly guilty. After all, Folken had been together with her twins when that incident had happened. But it hadn't been their fault. It had been nobody's fault. It had been a stupid accident. Varie had told her that and since then the two women were inseparable friends.

"Please, sit down." Varie snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of her friend's voice.

She smiled thankfully and sat down in one of the chairs which stood around a wooden table. The room smelled of lilies.

"And how do you feel?" Maya sat down in a chair beside Varie and folded her slim hands on the table.

She inhaled deeply at one of Maya's paintings at the wall. "Fine, I think….but I'm so damn afraid."

"Oh, Varie." Maya placed her hands on Varie's shaking ones. "A C- section is not that bad. There is only a minimal risk."

"But-but..." Varie stuttered but Maya interrupted her softly.

"Don't worry," she said quietly. "The birth of my twins wasn't easy and I made it. Folken's birth wasn't easy and you made it. We're strong, Varie. Everything will be alright, you'll see. In a few hours you'll hold your beautiful little son in your arms and you'll think, hey, good old Maya was right."

"I haven't felt Van move for some time." Varie's voice was barely above a whisper and tears started to form in her eyes. "Maybe-"

"Maybe he is sleeping," her friend said. "He is tired as much as you are. It doesn't mean anything."

"Sure?" Varie sniffed.

Maya nodded, determined. Her eyes were bright when she smiled. "Sure. Do you feel a little better?"

Varie nodded and wiped her tears away.

"Alright," Maya said. "When do they expect you in the hospital?"

She giggled lightly and a sheepish grin spread her lips. "Half an hour ago."

Maya laughed heartily and the sound was soft and clear like a bells. "I think you should go then."

Both women rose from their chairs and walked to the door. "Folken, Naria, Eriya!" Maya shouted. "Time to say goodbye!"

Soon they heard footsteps on the floor above them. A throng of three children came running down the stairway. They were chasing each other.

"Be careful!" Varie scolded but it was too late.

Folken tripped clumsily over his own foot and feel down four steps. The girls weren't able to stop and fell over him as well and together they rolled down the few steps to the bottom of the stairway. Hastily, they jumped to their feet and straightened.

"We're okay, mums," they chorused.

"I don't think that it's such a good idea to let you stay here," Varie mused and Folken's eyes widened. "Maybe I should bring you somewhere else."

"No!" Folken whined. "Mum, please let me stay!"

"Please, let him stay, aunt Varie!" the twins tried to help Folken. They looked so much like their mother. Shoulderlong blond hair and big blue eyes. They were so cute when they begged for something.

"But you must promise you'll be a good boy." Varie narrowed her eyes in an attempt to be serious but couldn't hide her smile.

"I promise, mum, I promise," Folken said and hugged her. "Goodbye. And don't forget to bring Van along when you return."

"Of course." Varie kissed him on the top of his head. "Goodbye, sweety."

"Goau, we're leaving!" she then called her husband. "Hurry up!"

"I'm coming!" Goau's reply was a faint shout from the living room.

They heard the men laugh and then they appeared in the doorway. Folken ran to his father and hugged him wildly. The twins said goodbye as well and then ran back to their room again. Maya smiled and lead her guests to the door, Setsuna following her.

"Thank you for everything." Varie stepped out of the door and turned back around to face her friend. Unshed tears welled up in her eyes.

"You're welcome, Varie." Maya smiled reassuringly.

"Good luck," Setsuna said in his deep voice and his brown eyes sparkled.

Varie and Goau nodded and then turned around to leave. Slowly, they walked back to their car and Goau helped Varie to sit down. Maya and Setsuna waited in the doorway until the car disappeared around a corner. Setsuna squeezed the shoulders of his wife lightly, signalling her that there was no need to worry. Everything would be alright. They hoped it from the bottom of their hearts.

* * *

"They arrived, sir," a tall man said into a receiver and looked out of the window of his Spartan furnished office.

"Is everything prepared, David?" The reply from the receiver was raspy and crackled with a static noise.

"Of course, Dr. Dornkirk," the man in the office answered and ran a nervous hand through his short black hair.

"Perfect." David could almost see his superior's smile.

"Shall I send someone to bring him to you then?" David asked, following two people who approached the hospital with his eyes.

"No." The answer came quickly. "No, I'll come and call for him myself. I want to be the first person he sees in his life."

"Okay."

"You may go now." It was nothing short of an order. "They'll need you in the operating room."

"Yes," David said, nodding. "Goodbye, sir."

"See you soon, David."

* * *

"I hate hospitals," Varie growled when they stood in front of the hospital entrance. Again. It seemed as if the hospital had become their second home. A home she hated with all her heart. Looking the glass doors in front of her, she felt a strange feeling in her stomach. It felt as if her innards were turned into a knot. It was the feeling you get when something...No. Nothing like that would happen. Van would be okay.

Goau stepped through the entrance with Varie at his side. The day had finally come. The day of Van's birth. The last three months had passed by so fast he thought it had only been a few days. But Varie's belly proved him wrong. It had become even bigger. She looked like a captive balloon. A really cute captive balloon. But he didn't dare say that out loud. Varie would probably strangle him on the spot. He grinned. Yes, his Varie. She was so strong. He was sure she would make it. They had passed so many obstacles which had lain in their way and they would pass this as well, no doubt.

Taking a deep breath, he took Varie's hand and together they entered the waiting hall. Dr. Nakamura, three nurses and a wheel-chair were already awaiting them.

"Mr. and Mrs. Fanel, I'm glad you finally arrived," Dr. Nakamura said and shook their hands. "Are you ready?"

Varie looked at Goau and then nodded. Dr. Nakamura smiled at her and led her to the wheel chair. Slowly, Varie sat down and exhaled. Oh yeah, it was quite strenuous to carry such a weight all the time. She would be happy when it was gone. She would be happy when he would lie in her arms. Yeah, she was sure he would be lying in her arms. All rosy and healthy. It was when Goau kissed her on the cheek.

"I'll wait here for you."

"Okay," Varie whispered in reply and kissed him on the lips.

"Can we go now?" Dr. Nakamura asked carefully and both nodded.

The nurse then turned the wheel-chair around and the small group left. Goau watched them but frowned when they suddenly stopped. He saw that they turned to him.

"Goau!" Varie called, making her husband smile. "I want you to take care of that," she said and took off her watch while he was approaching.

Goau smiled warmly and stretched out his arm. Slowly, she put the watch in his raw hand and he closed it carefully around the fragile silver piece of jewellery and took her hand, placing a light kiss on it.

"I'll take care," he whispered and she smiled.

The nurse pulled the wheel-chair together with his wife away from him and headed to the room where his son would be born. He watched her until she disappeared behind a corner. He then turned around and searched a chair where he could rest. He would wait here until the doctor would come and tell him that his son and wife were healthy. Slowly, he sank into one of the chairs along the hallways. When he closed his eyes and exhaled his hands started to shake violently. The strain he had had to bear over the last hours was now forcing its way out of his body.

He leaned forward and rested his head in his still shaking hands. He had played the strong husband, pretending that there was no need to worry. He hadn't wanted Varie to worry too much. That's why he had said that everything was alright over and over again but deep down in his heart he knew nothing was alright. There was such a high risk that Van could die. So damn high. And there was nothing he could do. Absolutely nothing.

Seconds stretched to minutes and minutes stretched to hours. He had left his chair half an hour ago and was now pacing a ditch into the hospital floor like he always did when he was nervous. He had gotten some tea but it had stopped steaming a long time ago. He hadn't sipped a single drop. He only walked up and down the hallway, his eyes on the ground. His teeth were chattering. But it wasn't because of cold. It was because of fear.

Goau glanced around. He seemed to do that regularly. But this time it was different. He didn't look to the ground again and continued pacing but stared along the hallway, his brown eyes wide. There in the distance, he spotted a doctor who was drying his hands with a towel. Goau didn't hesitate and ran towards him, his heart just about to break through his ribcage. His hands were shaking again when he reached the doctor. Why had doctors always this emotionless look on their face? Goau couldn't guess if the doctor had good news to tell or bad ones. And where was Dr. Nakamura?

"Mr. Fanel?"

Goau swallowed and nodded.

"I'm Dr. Mandaki," the man introduced himself. "I carried out the C- section."

"My wife and my son?" It was all Goau was able to utter, all that was on his mind.

"At first, I would like you to sit down, Mr. Fanel." The doctor tried to push Goau gently to a nearby chair.

The doctor wouldn't ask him to sit down if he had good news to tell, would he? Would he? It couldn't be. Everything would be alright.

"I don't want to sit down," he growled. "Tell me, how's my wife and my son?"

"Your wife is healthy but your son..." the doctor trailed off, seeing the look on Goau's face.

"What about my son?" Goau demanded to know. "What about him? Is this about his bone deformation?. He will grow up like a normal child. He won't even notice that he has such-"

"Mr. Fanel, I'm so sorry for bringing you such news," the doctor interrupted him and Goau's eyes widened even more. "We couldn't save your son. He is dead. We tried everything but it was already too late..."

The doctor tried to explain. He spoke of umbilical cords and deformations but Goau didn't listen. Everything he heard were these four words which reverberated through his mind over and over again. _Your son is dead_. Over and over again. Slowly, he took a step back. His eyes had lost their sparkle and his face seemed as if it had aged ten years with every second that had passed since he had heard that his son was dead. And Varie didn't even know. What should he tell her? How should he tell her? She would expect to see the face of her little son when she awoke. How should he tell her that everything they had feared would happen had become painful reality? How should he tell her that Van was dead?

Van was dead. And ever so slowly the words sunk in. Van was dead. Varie would never be able to scold him because he raided the cookie pack, Folken would never be able to teach him basketball and Goau would never be able to explain to him why this stupid girl who sat next to him in his biology class was staring at him the whole time.

His world fell apart. He wasn't able to think anymore. There was only emptiness in his mind and in his heart. Pitch-black emptiness. An unbelievable numbness overwhelmed him. He didn't notice his surroundings. There were only spinning colours. Nothing else. His whole body wen limp. And so, without noticing, he opened his hand and Varie's watch slid slowly out of the safety of his grip. Silently, it fell...

"Goau, I'm afraid."

...and fell...

"Don't worry, Varie. Everything will be alright."

...and fell...

"Van is strong. After all, he is our son."

...and finally, it hit the ground. A light noise echoed along the hallways when the glass shattered into a thousand pieces.

* * *

**A/N: What did I do? hides behind chair Hehe. Hey, we all know that I can't kill Van...but wait! Maybe I can!!!!! Nyarharhar. You'll know...in the next chapter!!!!**

Review replies:

TennyoAngel711: lol Glad you like it! I hope you liked this chapter, too!!! How was the dance?

Lani-Anela: Thanks!!!! And yeah, Hitomi will soon make her appearance

Esca-lover: blushs Thankiez!!!! I hope you liked it!!!

SabineballZ: Hi du!!! Ich freu mich, dass du dich freust. Haha. Und keine Sorge, ich werd' meine andere Geschichte auf keinen Fall vernachlässigen Danke nochmal!!!!!!!!!!!

Talker: I'm glad you think it's good and I try to improve!! Thanks!!!

Ryuu Angel: You like it!!! And yeah, it's impossible that something like that happens, at least I think so. And I also think that it's good that way. I hope you liked the chapter and thanks!!!!!!!!!

Anime Monkey: Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!

Athar-Luna: blushs Thankiez!!! I'm glad you like it!!! And yeah, little Folken is just too cute!!!

Aeka-himme: I'm happy you found my little story!!!! And I'm happy you like it!!! And about the abnormalities...I mean, it is Van, it is on his back...what else can it be????!!!! uu I'm so predictable!!!!

Till next time,

Dariel


	3. Just a normal teenager

*gasps* There is a third chapter although Van died!!! Or didn't he??? ^______^ Read and find out!!!  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Escaflowne.  
  
Oh, and just to remind you, this is fanFICTION!!!! This story isn't scientifically correct! So, ignore the falseness of my crazy ideas and enjoy!  
  
CHAPTER 3 Just a normal teenager  
  
~eighteen years later~  
  
Slowly, he sneaked through dim and narrow hallways, trying to avoid making any noise. Every muscle of his body was tensed, every muscle was under his control. He walked past a flickering halogen lamp and it was driving him crazy. He heard the clicking sound of the lamp switching on and off by itself. He wanted to shoot this annoying lamp but it was impossible. It would attract attention. And attention was all he needed!  
  
He decided to spare the lamp's life and continued his walk along the hallways, ears pricked to the maximum. In the distance, he saw that the hallway bent to the left. It was when he heard the noise. It was the faint echo of heavy boots on stony ground. Footsteps. He pressed his body against the wall and sneaked to the corner. Reaching the end of the wall he was leaning at, he took a deep breath and looked around the corner. Quickly, he pulled his head back, spotting the soldier who patrolled along the hallway. The soldier was coming in his direction.  
  
He pulled his stun gun and pressed his body even farther into the wall, trying to vanish inside it. His dark uniform charged into the cold wall. He was almost invisible. He could make it. Everything he had to do was waiting. Seconds past by. Reddish-brown eyes narrowed. Fingers twitched. Anticipation. A strand of unruly black hair fell into his view. He tried to blow it away but it just didn't want to give way. Angrily, he brushed it out of his eyes only to have it fall into his view again. He was just about to snort in anger, when he suddenly heard the sound of the footsteps very close. At once, he straightened, every muscle as tense as a bow string, ready for action.  
  
Only a few steps more. He could almost hear the soldier breathe. Only a few steps. Three. Two. One. Now! The head of the soldier appeared from behind the corner and the young man needed less than a second to aim and pull the trigger. The soldier hadn't even time to turn around. Moaning, he put his hand on his neck, where the little projectile had hit him. The anaesthetic shoot into his veins and was quickly transported to his brain. The soldier wanted to grab his radio set which was attached to his belt, but before his fingers came in contact with it, his knees gave way and he fell to the ground. The young man put his stun gun back into the holder at his waist. He didn't want to kill him. It wasn't necessary.  
  
With a last look at the sleeping enemy, he turned around and walked off. Again, his ears were pricked to notice every noise. But there was none, except of the steady humming of the ventilation. He stopped in front of a huge metal door on the right. His destination. He looked along the hallway. No soldiers. A small smile crept upon his features and he reached for the doorknob. His gloved hand embraced the metal doorknob, turning it around and he opened the door.  
  
At once, his rusty coloured eyes widened. The blue ones of the soldier who stood suddenly in front of him, did as well. His own gun was in the holder at his waist, unattainable far away. The soldier held his machine gun in his hands. The young man turned around, intending to hide behind the wall and pull his gun by the moment, the bullets hit him in his chest. His scream echoed along the hallways, fading in the distance.  
  
"NO!" the raven-haired youth shouted angrily and slammed his hands flat on the desk beside the keyboard, raising from his chair. "Not again!"  
  
He cried out in frustration and fell back into the chair, glaring at the computer screen. The words seemed to laugh at him - "Game Over" Yeah, he knew it! No need to show it in glowing green letters!! It was so unfair! He had come so far and then...argh! Growling, he grabbed the hamburger which lay in a corner of the desk. Ketchup dripped onto a sheet of paper with physical equations on it but he didn't care. He took a mighty bite and chewed frustrated, placing his legs onto the desk. His bare feet stuck in the air.  
  
His room was a mess. His large bed wasn't made. It looked like he had just left it. Pants, shirts and socks covered it together with innumerable books and folders. Books and folders covered the floor too, CDs, magazines and litter which contained crumpled sheets of paper, chocolate bar packing and ugly brown skin of bananas did as well. Empty water bottles decorated the table in front of his tv which showed some music clip but no sound. The music came from his stereo. But despite all this, the young man seemed completely happy in his little kingdom of pure chaos.  
  
Suddenly, the door to his room was pushed open. The young man choked over his food and nearly fell from his chair. Hastily, he jumped to his feet and positioned himself in front of his computer, hiding the screen and the rest of his hamburger behind his back. He was watching a tall man enter his room while he tried feverishly to end the game which he had just played. The man had his hands in the pockets of his white coat and walked slowly in his direction. A long and deep scar went over his left eye.  
  
"Hey Van," the man said and approached.  
  
"Hey Vargas," the black-haired youth replied casually.  
  
"What are you doing?" Vargas looked suspiciously at the young man who had his hands behind his back.  
  
"Nothing," he answered and searched something with his hands. "I-I just made some physics homework," Van pulled a sheet of paper from behind his back and lifted it proudly.  
  
"Really?" Vargas asked doubtfully and eyed the ketchup which was slowly sliding down the paper. "What kind of physics? Calculating the speed of ketchup on the tilted plane?"  
  
Van turned the sheet of paper around and looked at the ketchup, smiling sheepishly.  
  
"Van, where did you get the hamburger?" Vargas crossed his mighty arms in front of his chest but Van only smiled wider. "I'm not Millerna, Van. This smile doesn't work on me."  
  
"But Vargas!" Van complained.  
  
"Where did you get it?" Van knew Vargas was angry.  
  
"Kevin," he sighed. "But it wasn't his fault! I asked him if he could bring one along. Don't...," While he was speaking Van had moved towards Vargas and away from the desk, revealing the computer screen.  
  
Vargas tilted his head to the side and scanned the screen and the words on it. He narrowed his eyes in anger.  
  
"Metal Gear Solid?" he read out loud. "You were supposed to do your homework and not to play computer games!"  
  
"No, Vargas, please listen-" Van tried to explain but Vargas didn't want to listen.  
  
"I agreed when you asked me if you could make your homework in your room," Vargas now towered dangerously in front of Van, making him gulp. "I trusted you, Van."  
  
"I know and I'm really sorry," Van said and lowered his head. Yeah, he felt bad.  
  
"And how often did I tell you not to eat fast food?" Vargas asked, leaning down towards Van. "Your metabolism is very sensitive. We don't know how your body reacts towards such a carbohydrate bomb like this hamburger. We didn't forbid it without reason, Van."  
  
"I know, Vargas," Van replied quietly and then looked up. "But it just tastes so damn good!"  
  
Vargas smiled lightly.  
  
"It is the only thing I have from the world beyond these walls," Van pointed wildly at the poster-covered walls of his room.  
  
"Together with the tv and internet and your magazines and-" Vargas listed but Van interupted him.  
  
"Okay, I got the point," he said. "I'm sorry, Vargas. Really."  
  
Vargas unfolded his arms and looked at Van who was staring at the ground. "And I'm supposed to believe that?" Vargas asked and Van's head snapped up.  
  
"Vargas, please!"  
  
"It's alright, you..." Vargas trailed off, seeing Van kneed his hands. "Is there anything else on your mind?"  
  
"Um...maybe..." the young man hummed and hawed. "Did you ask him about...you know...about...about going out?"  
  
"Van, you know, this is an explosive topic," Vargas said seriously.  
  
"Yeah, I know," Van looked pleadingly at his old friend. "But it's so damn boring here! I want to see the world which is out there!"  
  
"I understand you," Vargas said and smiled warmly. "But it's really dangerous."  
  
"C'mon, Vargas!" Van replied. "A world which produces such delicious meal and so cool computer games can't be that dangerous!"  
  
Vargas raised his brows disapprovingly and Van ran a hand through his pitch- black hair. "Okay okay," he added. "The computer games weren't such a good example but you know what I mean, don't you?"  
  
"Yeah, I know," the tall man answered. "But what about asking him yourself?"  
  
"You really think I should do that?" Van didn't look completely convinced.  
  
"Why not?" Vargas shrugged. "He will be there at your weekly examination which is today, to be exactly in a few minutes, just to remind you."  
  
Van walked to the door and reached for the doorknob, grinning. "Stop wasting my time, Vargas!" he said and opened the door for Vargas, bowing lightly.  
  
"If you please exit the room, dear friend," he said playfully and Vargas grinned.  
  
Van grinned back, stepping out of his room after Vargas and into the whiteness which lay behind the door. Whitewashed walls encircled the hallway in front of him, blinding every eye which wasn't used to this intense colour. White tiles which sparkled in the artificial light of the halogen lamps paved the ground, making it seem as if the ground was moving if you stare too long at them. It wasn't what you usually expect behind the door to the room of a young man. But Van and Vargas didn't seem to bother. They walked along the white path, without looking at their surroundings.  
  
"But you know, Van," Vargas said, walking in front of Van. "you'll be punished for what you did. I think I should take your computer away from you, for at last a week or so."  
  
Vargas grinned like there was no tomorrow. He knew Van would complain like a child. He was willing to start a war when it was about his beloved computer. Vargas could almost see Van stare at him with this death glare of him. But this time there were no complains. Vargas frowned and turned around. His eyes widened when he saw why Van hadn't replied. He hadn't even listened. The young man leaned at the wall, a few meters behind Vargas. His right hand was placed against the wall, searching for support while he was pressing his left hand against his forehead. His head was lowered to the ground, his black strands hiding his face. His breath came out short and fast and cold sweat covered his skin.  
  
"Van, what's wrong?" Vargas asked concerned, walking towards Van and placed a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"It's nothing," Van replied and moaned quietly.  
  
"Van?" Vargas' voice was demanding.  
  
"Really, it's nothing," Van slowly lifted his head and gave him a lop-sided smile. "I feel a bit dizzy and my head aches, that's all. Nothing to worry about. It'll soon fade, like last time."  
  
Vargas inhaled sharply. "Like last time?" he asked angrily.  
  
"Vargas, it's just a stupid head-ache," Van rolled his eyes. "No need to be so dramatic."  
  
"Did you tell Millerna about that?" Vargas asked seriously.  
  
"No," Van replied. "As I said, it's just a head-ache!"  
  
"It seems you don't understand that even a head-ache -" Vargas started to explain but Van interupted him.  
  
"Stop acting as if I'm made of glass!" Van's eyes hardened. "I'll tell Millerna, okay?! Just stop making such a fuss over me!"  
  
He didn't wait for Vargas to reply. He turned around and walked off. He hated that! He hated it when they were so damn worried about him. They treatened him as if he was an expensive chinese porcelain doll. But he wasn't, dammit! He was just a normal teenager! Why couldn't they understand it? Why not? Hardly his little toe pinched a bit, they declared a state of emergency! It was so annoying! He knew why he hadn't told them about this head-ache yet! They would do these stupid tests on him, they would check every cell of his body if it worked correct, they would take his blood and search for some irregularities and he just hated it! It was only a head- ache! He wouldn't die because of it!  
  
He had reached the elevator, at the end of the hallway and slammed his palm angrily against the button. A light hum could be heard and the button started to glow red, signaling that the elevator was on his way down to Van's floor. He tapped his feet impatiently on the ground. He didn't want to face Vargas but the sound of approaching footsteps was getting louder and louder. It was already too late. Vargas stopped beside him when the doors of the elevator opened silently.  
  
Together they stepped into the white elevator which was illuminated by the same white halogen light which illuminated the hallways. Van leaned against the wall and stared to the ground while Vargas was pushing the button for the second floor. The door closed and at once, the elevator started to move upwards. Van always felt as if his stomach and the rest of his guts were floating within his body, when he used the elevator. His whole body tingled and he didn't like it. He prefered the stairs. He always used the stairs when he was walking through this labyrinth which was his home. But unfortunately, there were no stairs leading from the main floors down to his floor. There was only this one elevator which connected the second floor with his floor. Safety measures, Vargas always answered when he asked him.  
  
"I'm sorry, Van," he suddenly said, not looking up.  
  
"Yeah, you're always sorry," the young man replied.  
  
"But Van, you must understand us," Vargas said pleadingly. "We're only worried!"  
  
"Can't you be a bit less worried?" Van looked up and locked his eyes with Vargas' ones.  
  
Vargas gave a laugh. "It's not that easy, Van," he said. "You can't just decide for yourself that the head-ache isn't that bad. Don't be thoughtless, your body is really sensitive, Van!"  
  
"Your body is really sensitive," Van imitated Vargas' deep voice. "I'm sick of that, Vargas!"  
  
"But it doesn't seem that you're sick enough!" Vargas replied angrily. "If you already have the head-ache for the second time, it can't be that normal!"  
  
Van's eyes flickered and he turned away from Vargas, biting his lower lip.  
  
Vargas sighed. "We tell Millerna, okay?" he asked quietly and Van nodded lightly, still looking away.  
  
Silence started to fill the small cabin and it lasted until the elevator came to a stop, forcing Van's guts violantly back to their usual positions. How he hated elevators. The doors opened, revealing an empty white room. By the moment they left the elevator, five invisible and electrical eyes in the walls caught them, scanned them, analyzed them and identified them as Vargas Maradha, managerial employee at Dornkirk Inc. and as 0175/Van.  
  
They noticed nothing of that. Vargas walked to the metal door at the other side of the room and ran a thin identify card through a small slit at the wall beside it. Van put his hands in the pockets of his old jeans and waited. It was every time the same procedur. A lamp turned from red to green and the lock opened with a soft clicking noise. Vargas opened the door which was made of fifteen centimeter thick iron. Safety measures. Van sighed and followed Vargas out of the room, entering a huge hallway.  
  
At once, they were surrounded by a colourful spectrum of noises. Voices. It were a lot of different voices. There were women chatting along the hallways, men flirting in doorframes, assistants crying for help. Computers hummed their steady melody together with the ventilation. There was the sound of lots of different feet walking on white tiles. Feet in high heels, feet in gym-shoes, bare feet. Van grinned when Mr. Mole walked past them. His real name was George Langley. He got his nickname because of his unique moustache, because of being in the habit of appearing out of no-where and because of walking bare feeted. It would cost his job, some day.  
  
"He's still on the staff?" Vargas said and followed him with his eyes.  
  
"It wouldn't be the same if he wasn't there," Van replied, his arms behind his head. "Now come, Vargas!"  
  
Turning around, the young man continued his walk through windowless hallways and past windowless rooms. The people in the hallway smiled at him, greeted him. Van smiled back. He stood out of the white-dressed mass quite a lot. His sleeveless red shirt positively glowed and together with his blue jeans it was the only coloured cheering prospect among the white unity.  
  
They stopped in front of one of the innumerable doors along the hallway which had the imprint "Examination 02". Van reached for the doorknob and opened the door.  
  
~´´``~  
  
"That's him?" a man in a perfect fitting suit asked and looked through the window beside him.  
  
"That's him, Meiden," Dr. Isaac Dornkirk replied and placed his hands at the glass which seperated them from the lab, in the room underneath them. "That's him."  
  
"Well, I don't want to offend you or critizice your work in any way but honestly, he doesn't look special," Meiden Fassa said. He was the manager of the Fassa Trading Company, a huge firm with branchs all over the world and a lot of influence.  
  
Isaac laughed lightly. "Yeah, not on the outside. Not yet," he said almost in a whisper and then turned around to look at the brown-haired man who stood behind him. "What did you expect?"  
  
"Well, what about the abnormalities he had had when he was born?" Meiden asked and stroked over his goatee.  
  
"Didn't you read the reports, I send you?" Dornkirk looked at Meiden with a raised brow.  
  
Meiden snorted in respond. "My special subject is business and management and not genetic manipulation!"  
  
Isaac smiled lightly and looked back at the glass and into the lab. "They vanished when he was two years old," he answered.  
  
"They vanished?" Meiden crossed his arms in front of his chest and raised his brows.  
  
"Yes, they vanished," Isaac answered. "One morning, I went to look for him and when I found him, he sat in his bed and they were gone. Just gone. I asked him but he didn't know what had happened."  
  
"How could they vanish so easily?" Meiden asked curiously.  
  
Isaac chuckled. "I have the best scientist working for me but they still have a tough time of it with him," he said. "We don't know exactly but it seems that his body has some special abilities in decomposing of bones."  
  
"And?" Meiden looked questioningly at Isaac.  
  
"And what?" Isaac replied. "It were only two bone-abnormalities which jut ten centimeters out of his back. They were not special. They weren't what you expected it would become. You can say they were some kind of initial state. They were the basics of what will follow soon."  
  
"You're still sure about it?" the brown-haired man asked.  
  
"Of course!" Dornkirk stated firmly. "Of course, it worked! Everything we have to do is wait. We waited eighteen years, a few months more won't hurt. Be patient, Meiden."  
  
"Be patient?" Meiden echoed angrily. "I put a lot of money in this project and risked really much! I don't want to think that it was in vain! I want to see results!"  
  
"You will, soon enough," Isaac then pushed a button at the wall beside him. "Hey Van," he greeted the raven-haired youth they had just talked about. "How are you?"  
  
"Hey father," Van replied and waved a hand up to where Isaac was. "Fine, I think."  
  
"That's good to hear," Isaac smiled lightly.  
  
"Father?" Meiden raised his brows suspiciously. "He doesn't know about his parents, does he?"  
  
"Of course not!" Isaac said. "It would have been the biggest mistake we could have made! What is the first thing orphans want to know?"  
  
"Who are their parents, where are their parents and why are they in the orphanage," Meiden answered, nodding.  
  
"If I told him that I'm not his father he would do everything to find his parents, that's for sure," Dornkirk replied, looking at Van and stroked his almost white beard.  
  
Van didn't hear anything of that. He had turned away from Isaac's form behind the glass and now looked through the lab. It was stuffed with all kinds of medical and scientific equipment. Computers hummed from their tables and strange machines uttered strange noises. A lot of scientists and doctors were strolling through the room, checking one machine and experiment after another. Van knew them all. They were always there when it was about time to examine him. So was Millerna Sarah Aston.  
  
The blond haired woman was with twenty-three years really young for a doctor. She had been the best of her age-group at the university. One day, she had received a letter from Dornkirk Inc. in which had been written that the firm offered her the education at the Zaibach Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetic Research. She had agreed without hesitating. It was the most famous institute for this field, at the whole world. It was the institute where her sister Marlene had studied. Of course, Van didn't know that.  
  
"Take off your shirt please and sit down," Millerna ordered and rummaged through a pile of papers on her desk. She wore a tight-fitting white coat, hiding her usual clothing.  
  
Van saluted. "Yes, ma'am!" he said and pulled his red shirt over his head. "Admit it, you like to give me that kind of orders."  
  
"You would like that, huh?" Millerna replied and her violet eyes twinkled. It were her favorite contact lenses.  
  
"Of course," Van grinned.  
  
Yeah, she had to admit that he was quite good-looking. Black strands of unruly hair fell into his handsome face, partly covering his mysterious auburn eyes. The muscles on his upper torso were well-defined which was mainly a result of his kendo training. Vargas had told her that when Van had been nine years old, he had been a horrible pain in the neck. He had been always bored and had showed that quite clearly. Vargas had offered to teach Van kendo, in order to make the energetic boy tired. Dornkirk had agreed and since that day, Van was learning kendo. The only limitation was that Van was only allowed to train with wooden swords. Dornkirk couldn't risk to get Van injured.  
  
"Any problems or troubles?" Millerna asked, approaching.  
  
Van hesitated. "Van..." Vargas growled, without looking up from the sheets of paper, he was studying.  
  
"Yeah, okay!" Van said angrily. "I've got a head-ache. But it's only a light one, no trouble at all!"  
  
"A light one?" Vargas shouted and this time he looked up from his work to glare at Van. "He collapsed in the hallway!"  
  
"I did not collaps!" Van complained. They would make a fuss over it, he knew it! He tried to raise from his chair, but Millerna pushed him gently down. "I only felt a bit dizzy, that's all!"  
  
"How long do you have this head-ache now?" Millerna asked, a concerned look on her beautiful face. "For some hours or even some days?"  
  
"Well..." Van trailed off and looked uneasily at Vargas who was still glaring at him.  
  
"Don't worry," Millerna said and glared back at Vargas. "He won't be able to hurt you, I take care. Now tell me, please."  
  
Van looked from a smiling Millerna to a glaring Vargas and then to the white tiled ground. "Three months," he muttered but it was loud enough for Vargas to hear.  
  
"What?" he yelled in disbelieve. "Three months! I thought you had had it only two times! Three months and you didn't say a single word? You-"  
  
"It's enough now," Millerna interupted Vargas. "Van, why didn't you tell me?"  
  
"I thought it's not that bad," he whispered, still looking to the ground.  
  
"But three months!" Millerna said. "That's a long time, even for a simple head-ache. But it's okay now. I'm sure we find the reason therefore. Let's start, hm?"  
  
Van nodded and Millerna reached for the white pads, she would attach to Van's upper torso. Thin white wire was connecting the pads with the lots of computers who filled the room. Each computer would examine for what it was programmed. Van relaxed in his chair. He was used to this procedur. Millerna attached pads to his chest, at the places where his heart was, where his lungs were and so on.  
  
"I wonder if I can receive radio with all that wire on my body," Van said and Millerna chuckled.  
  
She continued with her work and then went behind him to attach some pads to Van's back. Millerna eyed his tanned skin. It suited him really much. But it was an artificially generated tan because of the tests they had done on him. They had tested the reaction of his skin to sunlight. Besides, his tan could never be natural. Where should it come from when he never-  
  
"Ah shit, Millerna!" he suddenly yelled and jumped to his feet, as if stung by a bee. "What did you do?"  
  
"No-nothing," Millerna answered and looked bewildered at Van. "What's wrong?"  
  
"That hurt!" he exclaimed angrily. "It felt like you were stabbing a dagger into my back and turned it around."  
  
"I swear I didn't even touch your back," Millerna said seriously.  
  
"Well, it...aah!" Van stifled a scream by clutching his hands over his mouth and arched his back in pain.  
  
Millerna turned hastily to the computer screens, hearing all of the alarm signals blare. Red lights were glowing and blinking at the screens, telling her that something was defintely wrong. Every scientist in the lab had suddenly come back to life. They ran to their chairs and started to play a symphony on their keybords. Their fingers ran restlessly over the keys while Van was sinking to his knees, clutching his sides desperately, moaning in pain.  
  
"What's wrong down there, Millerna?" Dornkirk's voice drowned the blaring of the alarm signals.  
  
"I don't know!" Millerna replied and looked up to the glass where Dornkirk was standing behind. "His body seems to freak out! He-"  
  
"His pulse-rate is incredible!" one of the scientists interupted her. It was a woman with short brown hair and brown eyes. She pushed her glasses up her nose with a shaking hand. "I've never seen something like that before. It's beyond the range! An ordinary heart would have started flickering a long time ago but his heart is just beating on and on!"  
  
"And his breathing-frequency is just impossible!!" shouted a man from behind his computer, staring at the screen with wide blue eyes.  
  
"Van, calm down!" Millerna said, seeing Van rock back and forth on the white floor.  
  
"Calm down? Do you think this is fun, Millerna?" he shouted and then winced when a new wave of pain washed through him.  
  
"Van, what's wrong?" she asked, hoping he could help her a bit.  
  
"It hurts, Millerna! It hurts like hell, dammit!" Van yelled angrily. "I feel like my heart is going to burst!"  
  
Millerna looked around the room and then back at Van. She gasped when her eyes trailed across his bare back. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened slowly.  
  
"What is it, Millerna?" Dornkirk's voice made her snap out of her stiffness.  
  
Millerna looked up to the spectator window. "There is something under his skin!" she said and her voice shook. "It's moving!"  
  
She turned back to Van and walked slowly to his kneeling form. Hesitantly, she stretched out her hand and carefully touched his back. As soon as she came in contact with Van's moving skin, she jerked her hand back.  
  
"His back is burning!" she exclaimed.  
  
Hastily, Millerna turned around and ran to her computer. She jumped into her seat and began to enter orders. Charts and diagrams appeared on her screen while innumerable numbers and letters were running down in the background. Millerna's eyes scanned restlessly the tons of information on the screen. Her eyes widened more and more with every second. She glanced back at Van and jumped out of her seat, shocked.  
  
Two hills started to grow from Van's shoulderblades. Something was stretching his skin. Van placed both of his hands flat on the floor, searching for support and arched his back even more. Because of trying to clutch the tiled floor, his nails broke off and his fingers started to bleed. His eyes were shut tightly and he tried to suppress the screams.  
  
"It's growing!" Millerna shouted, adressing Dornkirk and looked back at her screen. "Oh my...His cell activity is increasing with an unbelievable speed!" She leaned over the keyboard and stared at what her computer was telling her. "His cells are dividing! They are dividing so fast that...it's impossible!! I-I..."  
  
Suddenly, Van threw his head back. An unearthy scream escaped his lips and penetrated through the walls of the lab, echoing along the white hallways. Every scientist stopped their working and looked at Van, frozen. It was when something broke through the skin of Van's back. Something which was absolutely impossible, indescribable, incomprehensible, unbelievable. Something, which would drive everyone insane who wasn't prepared for it. Something which was so incredibly beautiful that it made you cry. Something which was so awe-inspiring that you felt small and unimportant. Something which crossed the bounds of human imagination.  
  
Van's scream died down when he lost consciousness because of the strain. Slowly, he fell forward and hit the ground. An eery silence filled the room. They weren't speaking and they weren't even breathing. Of course, they had been prepared for this. The had been told that sooner or later something like that would happen, but somehow they never really believed it. And now, everything they did was staring at Van, staring at what they never believed was possible, while pure white feathers silently rained down around them, covering the tables and the floor. The only noise which could be heard was the sound of Van's slow artificial heartbeat, coming from one of the computers.  
  
"I knew it," Dornkirk whispered, a mad fire burning within his purple eyes.  
  
~´´``~  
  
Thanks to all who reviewed!!!! Thanks thanks thanks!!!!  
  
Talker: Lol, yup that's true ^_^  
  
Aeka-himme: *nuzzles her beloved Van-plushie* ^______^ Hehe, yes you were right, concerning the creepy old man! I don't like Dornkirk. Grrrr. But hey, I know exactly what you mean with "side experiencing overload"!!!! I want to shoot my computer when this happens!!! I couldn't enter the Escaflowne section on ff.net for two days because of that and I wanted to update!!!! *snorts* It's annoying!  
  
Lady Luna: I hope it was better this time...^_~  
  
Lani-Anela: *blushs* Thankiez!! I'm glad you liked it!!!  
  
Silver Magiccraft: Thankiez!!! ^_^  
  
Kabashka: *blushs* Thanks!! I feel honoured that I'm one of the authors who got you into AU fics!!! ^_~  
  
Ryuu Angel: Hehe, thanks!! And yeah, I wanted to make them identical twins. I hope it's not that bad...is it bad?  
  
Anime Monkey: ^_^ Sorry for the cliffy...but hey, Van is alive!!! ^_~  
  
Athar-Luna: Thank you!!! And about 'The Pretender'...yeah, I guess there will be some similarities. I don't want to copy it but I think I can't avoid that there will be similarities.  
  
Infinitis: Thanx!!!  
  
Esca-Lover: *blushs like mad* Thanks!!! And no, it's not rude to ask that ^_^ I hope you liked the chapter too.  
  
Yami Kanis: Here you are!! And did you like it??  
  
SabineballZ: LOL, freut mich, dass es dir gefallen hat!! ^_^ Und jep, ich kenne Diablo II. Is cool. Ich hab's mit meinem Bruder über Netzwerk gespielt. Hab mich erfolgreich mit meinem Barbaren durch die Botanik gekämpft! Und jep jep, ich kenne auch EscaFantasy. Das mit Zelda find ich 'ne richtig gute Idee! Ich kenn Zelda nich, also von daher freu ich mich tierisch auf die neue Geschichte!!! ^_~  
  
A/N: ^________^ Of course, Van is not dead!!! I hope you all liked the chapter!!!! Ms. I'm-the-lucky-bitch-who-is-allowed-to-breathe-the-same-air- as-godlike-Van-Fanel will make her appearance, next chapter!!! And please, don't forget to review, okay? ^____^  
  
Till next chapter,  
  
Dariel 


	4. Broken crockery brings you luck

I know it took me a while but therefore you have a loooooooong chapter ^_^ 

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Escaflowne.

*hugs Ryuu Angel almost to death* Thanks a thousand times for the little extra tuition in Japanese!!!!!! You did help me a lot!!!! Thank you!!!!

CHAPTER 4  Broken crockery brings you luck

It was early afternoon and the sun shone brightly from a deep blue sky. A few clouds were travelling past it and their shadows were dancing over the suburbs of a huge city. The air was flimmering because of heat and the skyline was sparkling in the sunlight, trees hemming the net of streets between hundreds of detached houses. The laughter of children echoed through the air, birds trying to drown the roaring of a lawn-mover with their chirping. A dark-brown dog was turning over lush green lawn while it barked happily, causing a scanty-haired man to yell and wave about with a rolled up newspaper, a red cat watching them curiously from a small wall. Everything seemed completely peaceful.

"Bye mom!"

A green painted door was slammed shut, making the glass vibrate and a slim, young woman stumbled down the steps. A dark-green backpack hung over her left shoulder and she was trying to slip into her her right shoe while hopping on her left leg over the plastered way which was leading through the garden, in front of her house. She wore a tight-fitting black skirt and a simple white shirt which had _Shiroi Ryuu_ written across the back with swung black letters, her short sandy-blond hair shading her bright green eyes. A triumphant grin spread across her face when she finally managed to slip into the shoe.

"Hitomi, wait!" a voice stopped her when she was just about to sped off.

"Mom, what is it?" she asked and turned around, a pink pendant swinging with the motion and her eyes showing impatience. "I've no time! I'm already late and Yukari will kill me, no doubt!"

"Just be careful, okay?" Hitomi's mother said, standing in the green doorframe. 

"That was all?!" the young woman nearly shouted and after hastily turning around, she started to ran down the street. "I'm always careful, mom!"

"And please return home when your shift is over!" her mother continued. 

She said something else but Hitomi couldn't hear it because she was running past the roaring lawn-mover. It was probably the same what her mother told her everytime. She should be punctual to eat supper with her family. It was the only time that her family was together. Her father was working hard in his office in the city. He was an architect and his job kept him busy all the time. Often, he sat in the kitchen and didn't even find the time to eat because he was complaining about his clients and their crazy ideas. With a smile, Hitomi turned to the right and headed for the station. She would try her best.

A light breeze was cooling her heated skin, the fresh scent of cut lawn following her. Houses and trees flew by while she was running through the streets of her neighborhood, clouds of different scents hovering in the air. One time it smelled like flowers in full bloom, another time it smelled like wet earth. The delicious scent of a warm meal filled her nostrils and made her inhale deeply, the sudden change of her breathing rhythm causing stitchs in her side. She groaned. That was all she needed!        

Luckily, she could already see the rampart which was shielding the housing estates from the noises of the trains. The sudden shrill and all too familiar whistle of a train made her quicken her pace, alarmed. Gravel crunched under her shoes and little stones were thrown into the air when she ran up the rampart. Reaching the peak, her eyes widened, seeing that her train was already at the station and worse, was just about to leave. Without her!

"Mr. Mishima, please wait for me!" she yelled and quickened her pace even more. 

An old, grey-haired man in a blue uniform looked up, holding a sparkling whistle in his wrinkled hand. His small brown eyes glinted with laughter when he saw the young woman stumble down the rampart and run in his direction, her hair flying and her face flushed.

"Late again, Hitomi?" he asked, an amused smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

She smiled sheepishly when she reached him, panting. Hitomi couldn't count how often she would have missed the train if he hadn't waited for her. 

"Thank you!" she whispered and he winked.

Entering one of the silver freight cars, she heard the sound of a whistle and at once, the train began to move. Hitomi staggered and fell into an empty seat with a thud. Sighing in relief, the green-eyed girl threw her backpack in the seat across and then leaned her forehead against the glass of a window. The train was almost empty. Either the people were already at work or were on vacation. A group of young girls was chatting loudly at the other end of the freight car, using the vacation to do excessive shopping trips. Their glossed lips were moving restlessly, the sound of their voices mixing with the even clattering of iron wheels on iron tracks.

Hitomi was on her way to the restaurant where she and her best friend Yukari had found a summer job. They had decided to work during the summer vacation in order to earn some money for financing an expensive trip. The first day at work, they had nearly been fired because Yukari had rather leaned on the till and fantasized about lonely islands with white beachs and clear blue water instead of serving angry clients. Hitomi had literally kicked her back to reality. She smiled absently, remembering the events. Her life would just be half as funny without Yukari. They knew each other since kindergarden and had went through thick and thin, containing puberty and eleven years of school – and they were still friends!

She frowned, her head still resting against the window. When the vacation ended, her last year in school would begin. Grimacing, she remembered that she still didn't know what she would do after graduation. Her mother asked her almost every day and it was annoying. There was just too much she would like to do. She wanted to stay a year in a foreign country, maybe as aupair or during study. But then again, there was so much she wanted to study. She couldn't decide for one! Plus there was her sport. Who knew, maybe she decided to focus on track and becoming a famous athlete. 

She blinked when her world suddenly became dark, the lamps in the train coming to flickering life. They were now under the city and would soon reach the station where Hitomi would get off. Time had gone by very fast during her day dreaming. Grabbing her backpack, she decided to shove her confusing thoughts aside. There was a whole year to decide, so no need to worry in her beloved summer vacation. When she rose from her seat, she noticed that the girls were still chatting. She wondered why they weren't blue in the face but shrugged it off. Had to be an ability of the younger generation. 

With a jerk, the train came to a halt and Hitomi tightened her grip around the cold pole, beside her. After a brief moment, the doors opened, hissing. A bunch of people was waiting outside, waiting for her to get off. During school days, when she was on her way back home, there were sometimes so much people in the train that she felt like a sardine in a tin. She and Yukari had often stood pressed against the doors. It wasn't really comfortable and they were always glad when they could leave the sticky train.

Now, Hitomi shoved her way past the pushing people who wanted to enter the feight cars. Leaving them and their conversations behind, she headed for the exit, her shoes causing clicking noises to reveberate through the nearly empty station under the earth. A pleasant cool was filling the hall, making the wait for the train bearable in summer. She ran up the stairs to the exit and sunlight greeted her from above, making her squint. When she was halfway up the steps, she ran against a wall of warmth and gasped. It was always warmer in the city than in the suburbs, the heat dammed in the ravines of houses. She would probably melt in the restaurant.

Reaching the top of the stairs, sunlight and the noises of the city engulfed her. She could already see the restaurant, it was only a block away. The young woman took a deep breath and joined the people on the sidewalk, being on their way to a special destination, where ever it was. Hitomi wriggled past the the people standing in front of the entrance of the restaurant and past the tables and chairs filling the restaurant itself. The scent of dozens of different meals was impregnating the air, the sound of crockery clinking and conversations floating past her. She shoved past a man, standing in her way, and slipped behind the till. Hastily, she threw her backpack in a corner and grabbed a tray from under the till, looking around with slight fear in her eyes.

"You're too late," a voice from beside her suddenly said, making her jerk.

"Gosh Yukari, you almost scared me to death!" Hitomi gasped and turned around, clutching the tray.

"I can set my watch with your unpunctuality!" a girl with shining red hair and provocatively crossed arms said, annoyed. "Everytime fifteen minutes! Sometimes I think you do that intentionally!"

Hitomi rolled her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic! I really try to be punctual but," she smiled sheepishly, "you know, I just can do what I want, I can't manage to be punctual."

"You're lucky, Amano is also late," Yukari stated and leaned against the wall. She wore a short, beige skirt and a red tank top, matching the colour of her hair. The sunglasses she was holding in her right hand completed her summery appearance. 

"Oh, and you're not mad at him?" Hitomi asked suspiciously and raised a brow.

"No" Yukari replied and shrugged. "He, at least, has a good excuse. He called me and told me that he would be late because his boss had suddenly the amazing idea to send him all over the city to get some stupid reports! What is your's?"

Hitomi stuck out her tongue at Yukari and turned away. "Any orders yet?"

Yukari snorted and after walking at Hitomi's side, she waved a small sheet of paper in front of her friend's face. "I ran across this stuffed restaurant and, politely as usual, asked starving people what they wanted to eat or drink although my shift was over! You can be glad to have such a great friend like me!"

"I'm glad, believe me!" Hitomi replied, snatching the sheet of paper away from Yukari and turned away, disappearing in the kitchen with a wink.

The red head muttered under her breath and decided to get her backpack from the room of the employees. It was when a black-haired young man and a giant entered the restaurant. 

~´´``~

His eyelids twitched, indicating that he awoke. Slowly, he opened his eyes but closed them immediately when painfully dazzling white light shone through the small slit, sending a piercing pain through his head. With a groan of pure annoyance, he turned his head away from the source of the light. Not good. At once, his head started to pound violantly. It felt as if his head was swelling with every pound, becoming bigger and bigger. He reached up with his hands and placed them on his forehead, trying to stop his head from hurting. His forehead was hot and covered with sweat.

"Everything alright, Van?" a deep and concerned voice asked.

"No!" the young man barked angrily. "Do I look like I was alright? And could you please dim that stupid light?"

A chuckle reached his ears and suddenly the light was dimmed. Van turned his head back and his eyes snapped open, focusing on the white ceiling. That wasn't his room. The sounds of different machines were floating through the room and it smelled awfully like desinfectant. One of the sounds was a familiar one. It was a steady beeping noise which was his own heartbeat. This sound was all he could remember. His own heartbeat. He tried to remember what had happened, why he was here, but this only caused his head-ache to increase even more. Unconsciously, he dug his fingers in his hair, his palms still pressed against his forehead.

"Vargas, what happened?" Van asked but didn't turn his head to look at the tall man who sat in a chair beside the bed.

"You fainted," he replied.

Van snorted. "Now, I know everything! Thank you, Vargas!"

"Van..." Vargas started to say but trailed off.

"Why did I faint?" Van asked and began to raise from his lying position. "I can't remember anything! It's as if it has been deleted comp...ah!"

Van had stopped midway, an unbelievable pain emitting from his back. It hurt. It hurt so much. Grimacing, he continued to raise and the pain kept flooding through his entire body. He couldn't remember that his body was so heavy that he had problems to raise. With a groan, he straightened completely, the sheets falling from his bare upper torso and at once, his world started spinning. What was wrong with him? Why did all this happen? He had never been really sick but three months ago, this stupid head-ache had appeared. He had thought it would disappear but it hadn't! Did all this happen because of the head-ache? Should he have told Millerna earlier? 

While he was sitting motionlessly on the bed, the world slowly stopped swirling around him but the pain just didn't want to vanish. Angrily, he reached behind his back but froze when his fingers came in contact with something which shouldn't be there. Something soft. His eyes were wide and his heart was beating furiously within his chest, his hands starting to shake. Van swallowed the lumb in his throat and slowly turned around. It seemed to him as if his heart would burst within the next seconds and a tingling feeling crawled through his innards. Deep inside, he knew what would await him. He knew why he had had the head-ache but he refused to believe it.

His face showed no emotion when he finally saw what was causing the pain. He didn't move, just stared. There, behind him and beside him on the bed, were two huge wings. They were stretched out over the edges of the bed, lying on the floor to the half. Glowing white feathers were scattered across the bed. Van could do nothing but stare at them. His wings. They were so unbelievably large.

"8.1 meters wingspan, Van," Vargas said quietly as if reading his thoughts.

Van turned slowly away and placed his head in his violantly shaking hands, exhaling deeply. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his furiously beating heart. Of course, he had been told about this. He had been prepared for this one moment, from birth on. They had prepared his body and his mind for eighteen years but now it seemed as if they hadn't been completely successful. By seeing them, by realizing that they were really there, he could feel them. He could feel the unfamiliar weight, attached to his back. He could feel the cold of the tiled floor, they were lying on. He could feel the feathers tickling over his back. But his mind refused to accept it. How could he ever accept that? It was so unreal! Impossible! Simply impossible!  

"Van, what's the matter?" Vargas asked concerned and rose from his chair, watching Van who sat on the bed, his shoulders sagging and his body shaking.

The young man gave a laugh and looked up, a cold fire burning within his eyes. "Nothing!" he said bitterly. "Everything alright, Vargas! Only a pair of wings grew from my back! Nothing to worry about! It's the normalst thing in the world! It just changed everything! It just means that I now will never be allowed to go out! It means that you will only do more tests on me, more examinations, more fussing over me! But nice of you to ask! Everything alright!" He had shouted the last words.      

"Van, please calm down," Vargas begged and took a few steps in Van's direction. "Don't strain yourself!"

"I hate that!" Van yelled and climbed out of the bed, outraged. 

The measuring sensors which had been attached to his body, in order to observe his vital functions, were torn off but the alarm didn't start. Earlier, Vargas had decided to turn the alarm off. He had known that Van would have an outburst of temper. Nobody could accept something like that so easily. Not even if he was prepared. Vargas saw that Van was staggering. It was mostly because of the dizziness and because of the unfamiliar weight of his wings. The raven-haired youth shook his head and then glared at Vargas again.

"I hate that I'm not allowed to do anything!" he continued. "I hate these rooms, I hate this light, I hate these tests! I hate that I'm not normal!"

"Don't say so stupid things, Van," Vargas said warmly, trying to calm him. 

"Stupid?!" Van replied in disbelieve and unconsciously lifted his wings above his head. They were reacting to his feelings. "It's not stupid, it's the truth! If I was so normal like you say I am, then why am I not allowed to go out?"

"Van, please..." Vargas started to say but Van interupted him angrily. 

"Because I am not normal!" he shouted. "Now that they finally grew, I will never be allowed to leave this...this cage!"

"We talk with your father and we'll find a compromise," Vargas said, holding up his hands soothingly. "He will understand-"

"No, he'll not understand!" Van cut in, yelling. "He never understands because he doesn't want to understand! He doesn't even care!"

"Don't speak about your father like that!" Vargas replied. "He acts this way to protect you! He's worried about you! You're unique!"

"No, he's worried about the wings!" the outraged youth shouted back. "He couldn't await them grow! Everyone is unique, Vargas! Even without wings! But you all just see the wings on me! I wished they never grew! I hate them!"

"Van..." Vargas trailed off, watching in awe Van's wings disappear.

It began with a few of his feathers falling down. More feathers followed and the wings themselves started to move. They shrunk and it looked as if they were retracted into his back. Van didn't move and Vargas just stared at him with wide eyes. White feathers swirled everywhere around him. And then, the wings were gone. Just gone, as if they never had been there. The only thing which was left of them, was the carpet of feathers on the ground. Vargas looked at Van in pure disbelieve but he just glared back. Without saying a word, Van turned away and headed for the door. After leaving the room, he slammed it shut. 

~´´``~

He clutched the edge of the starting block tightly with his toes and then bent down to touch the cold stone of the block with his hands, his muscles tense. Looking at the smooth surface beneath him, he suddenly went to his knees and pushed himself off the starting block. He stretched and dove into the water with his hands first, making the water splash. It was cold and at once, goosebumps appeared on his skin. After diving a few meters, he broke through the surface and inhaled deeply, starting to do the crawl.

In the beginning, he hadn't liked swimming. What a boring sport where you only swim your lonely tracks in the pool. Vargas had said that he should start to swim when Van had been twelve years old. It was training to built up the muscles he needed for his wings. With the years he had grown to like it more and more. Now, he could say that he loved swimming. He left everything behind and lost his sense of time. Van always swam until he was completely exhausted. He loved it to drain every bit of energy out of his body. He loved it when he couldn't feel his limbs anymore, when he was so exhausted that he couldn't even think anymore.

No problems, no trouble. There was nothing he needed to care about, only water surrounding him. He heard the blood rush through his veins and the water splash around him. He didn't know how long he had been swimming but it must have been quite some time because his lungs started to hurt. Really hurt. It was a burning pain and he felt as if they would burst, whenever he took a breath. And slowly, his limbs started to get numb, making it impossible for him to continue. He wanted to keep on swimming but his body just didn't want to listen to his orders. After one last desperate stroke, he managed to turn on his back and started to drift, panting.

He looked up and watched the reflections of the light, illuminating the hall, dance over the ceiling. His arms and legs were stretched out and his pitch-black hair was floating around his head. He was completely numb. He couldn't even feel the water around him. His incredibly fast heartbeat and his heavy breaths slowed down while he was resting. Patiently, he waited for his body to recover. And then, it began. His fingertips started to tingle and this feeling rushed through him, making the life return into his body. But together with the life, the pain returned. Every muscle hurt and a wide smile appeared on his face. He felt so unbelievably alive.  

The sound of a door opening suddenly broke the silence. Van heard footsteps on tiled wet ground and knew who it was. Nobody except Vargas and Millerna would dare to disturb him here. This sound was defintitely not the one of Millerna's stilettos, so there was only one possibility of whom it might be. The footsteps stopped and Van pretended to sleep. 

"Van," Vargas said, causing a multiple echo to reveberate through the empty hall. "Please, come out of the water. We must talk."

Van didn't reply and Vargas sighed. The lad could be so damn stubborn.

"I talked with your father," Vargas continued and Van's eyes shot open.

"What did he say?" he asked, still drifting motionlessly.

Vargas' grip around the blue towel in his left hand tightened. "Come out of the water, please."

Van frowned, hearing Vargas's firm voice. Why couldn't he tell him now? It wasn't as if it made any difference if he was in the pool or not! He shrugged it off and swam to the edge of the pool. Grabbing the cold beton firmly, he pulled himself out of the pool, the water streaming down his muscular body. Van clenched his jaw and moaned quietly when a piercing pain shot through his back. His arms started to shake and he swung his right leg hastily over the edge, not wanting to fall back into the water. Pulling himself completely over the edge, he rested on his knees and waited for the pain to subside.   

"Here, take this," Vargas said and Van looked up, the huge blue towel hitting him square in the face. "Now, come."

"V-vargas, wait!" Van complained from under the towel while trying to pull it over his head. "You said that you would tell me if I came out of the pool!"

"I said you should come out of the water," Vargas replied and turned to leave. "Nothing more."

Van rose to his feet and wrapped the towel around his body, shaking his wet hair. Grumbling, he followed Vargas to the door at the other side of the hall, his bare feet causing tapping noises on the ground. After Van had slipped into his shoes, they left the hall through the door and entered a white and empty hallway. They passed several doors along their way. Hidden behind them lay a basketball field, a gym, the hall where he practised kendo with Vargas. If Van didn't sat in his class or in front of his computer, he could be found here. 

They walked to the end of the hallway where an elevator was waiting but turned to the right. Passing a glass door with the help of Van's identify card, they entered a staircase. "3rd floor" was written with bold letters at the wall. They were one floor beneath the one were the examination room was situated. The familiar sound of the ventilation was the only noise in the beton cage. It was cool there and they hurried up the stairs to the second floor. The glass door swung open with a light hum, after Van had ran his identify card through the slit. It was so annoying. Every time he wanted to take a walk through the lab, he passed hundreds of security doors which needed identify cards to be opened.  

The huge main hallway lay in front of them. As usual, a lot of people were on their way to their offices, to the cafeteria, someplace else. Vargas led their way down the hallway and Van earned some smiles. He wore still his swim trunks and had the towel wrapped around his waist, his wet feet making funny noises in his shoes with every step he took. Glistening drops of water pearled from his hair and ran down his chest and back, only to be soaked by the towel. Van ran a hand through his hair and frowned deeply when they stopped in front of Vargas' office. The tall man opened the door and waited for Van to enter.

"Vargas what...?" the young man started to ask but was interupted.

"Just enter."

Van frowned even more and stepped into the windowless office. A desk stood at the other side of the room, a computer and piles of paper occupying it. The walls were empty, except for the wall clock above the door and the grey filing cabinets which stood almost everywhere in the room, a lonely plant forlorn between them. It smelled like fresh copied paper and cables. Van guessed the computer was running for days, without a break. He had often been in this office, mostly to listen to a sermon. The sound of the door shutting behind him made him snap out of his thoughts.     

"I asked your father about going out," Vargas said, walking past him and sat down in his chair. 

"You did?" Van questioned, his eyes wide. "W-what did he say?"

Silence. Vargas was rolling a slim black pencil between his mighty fingers, looking at Van but looking through him at the same time. Van didn't breathe, he was just listening to his heart beat violantly in his chest and to Vargas' clock tick. He had never noticed that the clock ticked audibly.

Finally, Vargas took a deep breath. "He said he could never allow you to go out alone-"

"See, I told you!" Van interupted him loudly, pointing with his index finger at Vargas. "I'm stuck in this stupid prison here!"

"If you please let me finish my sentence, one time!" Vargas replied and glared at Van, making him retreat his arm and look dumbfounded. "Again, he said that he could never allow you to go out alone because it is too dangerous and then he listed everything which could possibly harm you. You know the list. But," he paused briefly and smiled, "he said nothing about me going out – with you!"

Van's auburn eyes widened.

"He didn't directly forbid me to go out with you," Vargas looked at Van who was completely frozen. "Oh Van, stop being so excited or you'll probably get an heart-attack!"

Van blinked and gulped. "Y-you really mean t-that...," he was finally able to utter.

"Yes, we're going to go out and see the world, today," Vargas said and leaned back into his chair, his lips curled into a satisfied smile.

Van raised a brow sceptically. He didn't know what to think of that. He had wanted to go out for so long and everytime he had asked, Vargas had said no. One part of him wanted to jump with joy, but the other part made him cross his arms in front of his well-defined chest. It was almost completely quiet, only the continual ticking of the clock could be heard while Van was observing Vargas. "There's a catch in it."

Vargas grinned from ear to ear. "Of course!" he exclaimed. "You don't get anything for nothing in the world! Look, Millerna is all excited about you and the wings. And now you made them vanish, she's dying to examine you. Let her examine you and when she's finished, we'll go."

"And I shall believe that?" Van asked and looked at Vargas doubtfully.

"Do you want to go out or not?" Vargas asked back.

"Go out, what do you think?!" the black-haired youth shouted and spread his arms.

"Well then," Vargas leaned forward and looked at his wall clock. "We meet in your room, in three hours."

"Three hours?!" Van yelled. "You give Millerna three hours to examine me? Do you even know what she can do with me, within this time?"

"Yes, I know exactly," the man in the chair replied. "But it's necessary."

Van muttered some words, Vargas couldn't understand and turned to leave. When he was just about the grab the doorknob, Vargas' voice stopped him.

"But Van, don't tell anyone, okay?" he asked. "Not even Millerna."

Van turned slowly around, a serious look on his face. "That's why you wanted to talk here with me, didn't you?" he asked. "One of the few rooms without cameras."

Vargas smiled. "There are advantages and disadvantages."

"More disadvantages, I think," Van said and added hastily when he saw that Vargas already opened his mouth to reply, "I know, I know. It's just to protect me."

He turned to the door again and opened it. "I won't tell anyone. See you soon, Vargas."   

~´´``~

"Millerna, why won't you understand?!" Van shouted angrily, lying on his stomach on top of a large examination table. "That hurts! And now stop pricking in my wounds, please!"

"Oversensitive, aren't we?" Millerna replied, from behind him.

"Oversensitive?" Van repeated. "Let me prick needles in your back and we'll see if you're oversensitive!"

"Calm down!" the blond haired woman put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Keep on listening to your music and I promise to be careful, okay?"

The young man snorted and put his headphones, which had fallen down during his outburst, back in his ears. At once, loud music was blaring, drowning every other noise. He had his head turned to the left, his cheek touching the table. He was staring at the wall and tried to ignore what Millerna was doing with his back, while the cold of the metal table was seeping into him. He was in that one room, he hated so much. A square cell with empty walls. The only light illuminating the room was the one of the flat lamps directly above him, the shadows of Millerna and her assistants dancing around him.

One wall of the room was made of glass, allowing spectators to watch the examination. And there were always spectators. He felt so humilated lying there, unable to do anything, being under the mercy of some doctors, watched while he was suffering. He wasn't often in that room but when he was there it always hurt. But he had never cried, even when he had been younger. He had known that his father had watched and Van hadn't wanted to show weakness, he had always wanted to prove that he was strong.   

He flinched when Millerna pricked into his wounds again. It were the remains of his wings. Two vertical gashs, nothing more. Millerna took samples while her assistents were sitting at the computers, analyzing the tests. The music kept blaring in his ears. Van closed his eyes tightly and bit his lips, when the pain increased. Just a few minutes more. Just a few minutes more and it would be over. He would go out! He would go out! Saying it over and over in his mind, he blocked out the pain. After a while, the sound of the music faded and his muscles slowly relaxed. 

A light tap on his shoulder made him suddenly wake up. Van blinked a few times and then straightened slowly. He was surprised to find his body free from all the infusion hoses and measuring instruments. Noticing that the halogen lamps in the ceiling were turned on, he turned around in order to ask Millerna, scratching the back of his head. The scratching stopped and he raised his brows in surprise when he saw Millerna standing in front of him, her hands folded. The four assistants were sitting in the seats in front of their computers and looked at him, nervous. He was just about to open his mouth when Millerna spoke.

"We're almost done, Van," she informed him, looking him directly in the eye. "There is just one thing..."

"And what?" Van asked, showing her his slightly rising anger with an impatient movement of the hand when she trailed off. He hated it when she beat about the bush.

"Well, your wings grew and we all thought this process had been irrevocable," she gave a short laugh. "But as we all saw, you proved us wrong. Now, we all are dying to know how you did this. We can't explain it and we all would like to know if...if you're able to repeat it."

Van smiled. But it was a smile which didn't reach his eyes. When the wings had vanished he had hoped that they would never ever appear again. But he had known that they were still there, the ability to make them grow deeply rooted within his genetic information.

"You think this is some kind of mechanism which I can turn on and off whenever I want, don't you?" he asked bitterly.

"No no no!!" Millerna replied and shook her head violantly, making her long blond hair fly. "I just thought you could try a-and-"

"I can't" he said quietly and she stopped. "I can't and I don't want to. I was in rage when it happened and I highly doubt that I can control it."

"I just want you to try it," Millerna said and looked at him pleadingly. "Please Van, do it for me."

"That's not fair, Millerna!" Van complained and avoided to look her in the eye.

"Please," she begged and he sighed.

He nodded lightly and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Why shouldn't he try it? At least, Millerna would stop her begging. It was so ridiculous! What should he do? How should he make his wings appear? He didn't believe that his wings listened to some orders like "Appear!", "Come out!" or something like that! And he couldn't really remember how it had happened the first time! He just remembered this strong feeling from deep within his body. So strong. He had thought he would burst.

Maybe he just had to search deeper. Knitting his brows, he concentrated even more and it was as if he felt every muscle, every tendon, every cell. Pearls of sweat appeared on his forehead and roled down his temples. He was searching it, this one strong feeling. He wanted to wake it again. The muscles in his back tensed and he suddenly jerked, almost imperceptible, when a piercing pain shot through his back. But it was gone before he could moan in pain. He was just about to open his eyes when he felt it. Coming from deep within, he felt the feeling built up inside him. It made his heartbeat fasten, his breathes come out heavier and his cell activity increase. Devide, grow, move.

It was when it hit him like a lightening bolt. If his wings appeared now, Millerna would never let him go. She would just bind him to the table again and examine him until her questions were answered and that would take some time! He wouldn't be able to go out with Vargas! And one thought echoed through his mind. No! He gasped and his eyes snapped open, the motion in his back stopping abruptly. His auburn eyes flickered through the room for a brief moment, until they focused on Millerna who looked at him with a questioning look on her beautiful face. 

"No," he said and blinked. "No, it doesn't work. I can't do it."       

"Oh," was all Millerna said and her eyes saddened.

"Was that everything, Millerna?" Van asked and swung his legs over the edge of the table, he was sitting on.

"Yes, of course," the young woman replied and smiled. "Have a nice day!"

"I will!" Van said and grinned. 

He jumped down and grabbed his red shirt which lay on the ground. Pulling it over his head, he headed for the door. Van reached for the doorknob and with a short "Bye" he was gone. When he was outside the room, the first thing he did, was taking a deep breath. It was over! His back still hurt from Millerna's pricking but he could forget it, knowing what he would do now. With a huge grin plastered on his face, he sped off down the hallway to his elevator. He ignored his racing heartbeat, the stares he received and the fact that he had to use the elevator. Nothing did matter to him. The only thing he saw, was his room where Vargas was waiting for him.

How would it be, out there? Of course, he knew the world but in an artificial way. He knew it from photos, from the internet, from tv, from magazines. But you couldn't feel or smell through a screen or sheet of paper. It was so unreal and distant. He couldn't touch it. It was just a picture, a brief and incomplete impression. It couldn't satisfy his curiosity. Of course, he had never seen the world so he couldn't miss it. There just had been this longing deep within him, the longing for fresh air, sunlight and the feeling of rain on his skin. Little things, but unattainable.

Van suddenly stopped, surprised. He stood directly in front of his room. Turning around, he mused that his feet must have led him down there, without him even noticing. Stretching out his arm in order to open the door, he saw that his hand was shaking violantly. Smiling widely, Van pushed the door open and stopped in the doorframe, slightly confused. There, at his desk, sat Vargas, totally absorbed in a computer game. He wasn't wearing his white coat but old wide jeans and a black shirt. Van was grinning from ear to ear.  

"Dammit!" Vargas shouted, startling the black haired youth. "That was unfair! I want to try it again!"

"Enjoying yourself, Vargas?" Van asked with a grin and leaned against the doorframe, making Vargas jerk.

"Van, I didn't hear you enter," the older man greeted and turned around, an embarassed smile on his face. "You probably want to know what I'm doing here...well, I thought that...I-I just wanted to know what is fascinating you so much!"

"Of course," Van said ironically. "And do you know it now?"

"No!" Vargas grunted and rose from the chair, grabbing the flashlight which stood on the desk. "It's frustrating! I can't understand you, really!"

Van laughed out loud. "You only need to practise a bit more, Vargas!"

"Nah, that's pointless!" he said and then changed the subject. "Is Millerna done? Can we go?"

"Yeah, I'm dismissed," he replied, his voice slightly shaking. 

"Well then," Vargas pointed at the hallway behind Van. "Let's go!"

The young man nodded and took a deep breath, his heart pumping furiously. "Do I need anything?" he asked and tugged at his shirt.

"No," Vargas shook his head and pushed Van softly through the door. "It's pretty warm outside. It's summer, Van."

"I know," Van grumbled and stepped out into the hallway. 

Chuckling, Vargas locked the door and signaled Van to follow him back to the elevator. Swallowing his heart which was beating in his throat, he joined his friend's side, kneading his hands unconsciously.

"Nervous?" Vargas asked, noticing Van's restlessnes.

"A bit," he replied and looked up. "Won't they miss us?"

"Sometimes, you lock yourself in your room for hours!" Vargas replied and studied Van's auburn eyes. He was afraid.

"B-but what about the cameras?" the young man complained.

"Don't worry," Vargas replied and a light smirk appeared on his face. "I took care of that."

Van frowned deeply but before he could ask, they reached the elevator. Vargas pushed the button and they entered. After the doors had slided shut, the elevator began moving upwards. Van inhaled deeply, trying to calm down. His body seemed to freak out now that he had realized that he was really going to see the world. It was strange to imagine it. It was like he was dreaming. 

"By the way, how will we be able to...?" Van started to ask, a thought coming to his mind but the sentence ended in a gasp.

Vargas had pushed the stop button, forcing the elevator to a halt. Van was breathing fast and watched Vargas with wide eyes, his hands shaking. The brown-haired giant stood in front of the closed elevator doors, his fingers in the slit between them and tried to pull them open. After a clicking noise and a grunt, the doors slid reluctantly open, revealing a dark hallway. Van's mouth fell open in disbelieve. In the shaft of his elevator, somewhere between his floor and the second floor was a hidden exit!

"That's impossible!" he uttered.

"You didn't expect that, huh?" Vargas asked and switched on the flashlight, he was holding in his right hand.

The slim finger of yellowish light danced over the walls, trying its best to break through the darkness but fading unsuccessfully in the distance. The light hit no obstacle, indicating that the hallway was really long. Vargas left the elevator, making the light jerk. Van hesitated. 

"What about the elevator?" he asked. "Will it wait here, all the time?"

"Probably," Vargas shrugged. "And even if not, we can call it from here. Look!"

Van raised a brow and stepped into the hallway, inspecting the buttons, Vargas was pointing on with the finger of light. They could really call the elevator from here! That was odd. There was no hint, leading to this hallway but you could call the elevator from here! Where was he? Looking around, he suddenly froze, spotting a small black box, in a corner above the elevator doors. A camera.

"Vargas!" Van said and pointed at it, a shocked expression on his face.

"Stop worrying!" Vargas replied, looking at the camera and then turned around. "I said that I took care of it! Now, come!"

Van glanced at the black eye in the wall once more and then followed Vargas. They walked along the hallway in silence, led by the flashlight. There was no sideway branching off of the hallway, neither were there doors nor was there a bent. They walked straight ahead into the darkness. The only noise which could be heard, was the one of Vargas' heavy boots on beton ground, drowning the sound of Van's quiet footsteps. The cold down there made him shudder and rub his arms, trying to warm himself. He hoped that they would soon reach their destination. He felt trapped.

The young man glanced at his friend out of the corner of his eyes and suddenly felt horribly guilty. Vargas had been always there for him, had helped him whenever there had been a problem and now was risking a lot by leading him out of the lab. Vargas was a better father than Isaac Dornkirk would ever be. And Van had yelled at him although it hadn't been Vargas' fault. He felt so bad.

"Um Vargas, about...about-" he began to apologize but Vargas cut in.

"Don't apologize!" he said without looking at Van. "It was your right to be angry. You needed to give vent to your anger and I was unfortunately the only one around you."

"But-" Van tried again.

"No, it's okay," Vargas interupted him and this time, he turned around, the smile barely visible in the meagre light.

"Thank you," Van whispered but added, his voice alarmed. "Did father hear what I said?"

"No," the tall man replied. "He wasn't there when you awoke and nobody will tell him about your outburst. Don't worry."

Van sighed in relief, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jeans and nodded. He knew his father would have been really angry if he had heard what Van had said about him. Van didn't see his father often and when he talked with him, the young man felt always uncomfortable. The eyes of his father made him nervous. They seemed to hide something. Van shook his head. Paranoid. 

His thinking was suddenly interupted when the light hit something in front of them. Approaching, he saw that it was a dark staircase. They didn't stop and walked up the stairs, the light jerking over empty and wet walls. Again, there were no doors and no sideways. Only one direction to follow.

"Where are we going, Vargas?" Van finally asked, his curiosity almost killing him.

"Upstairs," Vargas replied, without looking at him. Vargas knew that the look, Van was giving him right now, would have killed him. He only heard the ominous growl and chuckled.

"It sounds ridiculous but I can't tell you more," he explained. "The lab, your home, is a giant institution. You know less than a half of it. You only know the part which is situated under the earth."

"Under the earth?" Van echoed.

"Yes, thirteen floors under the earth, isolated from the rest of the world. Never wondered why there are no windows?" he asked rhetorically and then continued, "There are more than fourty floors above the surface of the earth." 

Van remained silent, staring at the ground. Yes, he had known that he was isolated but he hadn't known that they were hiding the lab under the earth. He had learned to accept that he would probably never see the real world, had learned to accept his isolation. They had told him that he was unique and that the people out there wouldn't accept him and that the isolation was to protect him. He was used to it, he had never experienced anything else. But these words which had come over Vargas' lips so easily, hurt him. He felt like one of the white lab rats, trapped and created to be always in for a test.

"We arrived," Vargas suddely said, making Van snap out of his thoughts.

Confused, the young man looked around. They had reached the top of the staircase, their way ending in front of a huge door. Van couldn't see what Vargas was doing because Vargas' back was blocking his view, but heard something which sounded like the dialing of a telephon. An electrical combination lock. The door opened with a hiss and Van had to shield his eyes from the light which was illuminating the hallway, lying behind the door. Vargas stepped through the door, allowing Van to see the number panel of the lock and the twenty centimeter thick door. He stepped into the hallway, his heart beating furiously and Vargas closed the door.  

There were three doors; the one they had just walked through, a door to the left and one to the right. At the door to the right was written "Lab" and at the one to the left "Exit", both doors needing ID cards to be opened. They walked to the "Exit" door and Van's hands started to shake when Vargas ran his card through the slit and reached for the doorknob. The young man took a deep breath when Vargas pulled the door open but closed his eyes immediately, an unbelievably bright light blinding him. His eyes snapped open, by the moment Vargas pushed him through the door.    

He froze at once, paralyzed, unable to speak, to think and to breathe. He just stood there, in front of one of the innumerable side exits of the Dornkirk Inc. skyscraper, his reddish-brown eyes widened to the limit and stared at the world. It was far too much for his mind to cope with. He saw things he had never seen before. He smelled, heard and felt things he never experienced before. So much impressions, so much things to see. At what should he look at first? At the huge street which was winding its way past them? At the cars which were stringed on it like pearls on a thread, hooting and emitting exhaust fumes? At the hundreds of people who were walking past him on the sidewalk?

He slowly looked around, the different scents and sounds stunning him. He couldn't assign most of them because he simply didn't know them. There was the disgusting scent of the garbage can which stood a few meters beside him, the scent of hot asphalt and cars, travelling past. A group of young boys walked past him, one of them eating a hot dog, the spicy scent of ketchup and mustard causing a smile on his lips. He could smell the sweet scent of the flowers, sold by the man at the other side of the street and the pungent scent of the perfume from the lady walking by just then, making him cock his nose.  

Two dogs barked at each other, their owners trying desperately to separate them. People were chatting while they walked along. Somewhere in the distance, an air hammer was noisily destroying the street. Engines were roaring, and tires squealed. He heard the wind rustle through the trees at the street, a light breeze tickling over his skin, causing goosebumps. The sound of cicadas and birds playing their melody mixed with the sound of music which was blaring from out of a red car. He had often imagined how it would be like but he never imagined it like that. It was simply stunning.

And this light. It was so much more pleasant than the piercing white light of the halogen lamps, he was used to. It was so warm and natural...just perfect. Slowly, he tilted his head back and looked up into the sky, his eyes widening. It was so much more different to see it in real. The images from the tv and internet were nothing compared to this. There, from a deep blue sky covered with several white clouds, shone the sun. A ball of fire and gas but beautiful, nevertheless. A bright yellowish light emitted from it, flooding the earth, warming him.

"Don't stare into the sun for so long or you'll get blind," Vargas' voice reached his ears, startling him out of his trance.

Van turned around and spotted Vargas who leaned at the wall, a smile on his face.

"Let's take a walk," he suggested and pushed himself off the wall, Van following him with a slow nod, after looking at the sun once more.

They walked along the crowded sidewalk, people jostling them every now and then. Faces. So many different faces. So many different people. Walking past him on their way to their offices, on their way home, on their way to a friend. Everyone of them had another destination, had other thoughts racing through their mind, at that very moment. He could see so many different emotions. Laughter in a pair of brown eyes, belonging to a face full of wrinkles. Concern on the face of a young man, twisting a sheet of paper in his hands. Light-blue eyes of a middle-aged woman with curly blond hair glinting with anger while she talked to the man beside her.

Van looked around, trying desperately to absorb everything he saw. But it was impossible. People appeared in his view, looking at him briefly, looking through him, looking past him, looking away, walking past him like they walked past hundreds of other people too. He would forget almost all of the faces he had seen like almost all of the people would forget him. He was just one of hundreds, invisible in the crowd. Maybe the brown-eyed girl with the short brown hair and the single red rose in her delicate hand would remember the handsome black-haired young man with the unique auburn eyes who made her stumble and apologized with a smile, before disappearing between the people on the street again.   

After an eternity it seemed, they stopped and waited with a crowd to cross the street. Never had he seen so many people at the same time, at the same place. And they were so loud. Curiously, Van watched them read newspapers, drink a coffee at a small café and chat with friends, argue while waiting for a traffic light to switch over, stand in line for getting ice cream, sit in their cars and complain about the traffic jam. He watched them pursue their everyday activities; watched them do things, he couldn't do.

A man beside him was yelling in the mobile phone, he held close to his ear. His black jacket hung loosely over his right arm while he was fanning fresh air into his heated face, before using it to wave about, giving vent to his anger. Van was sure the man would collaps in a few seconds if he kept being excited that much. The crowd suddenly started to move and they were pushed across the pedestrian crossing, people from the other side of the street shoving past them. Reaching the sidewalk, the yelling man turned to the right and Vargas led Van to the left.  

"Do you want to see anything in particular?" Vargas asked, making Van look up.

"No," he replied quietly and looked around. They had reached a park, situated beside the street, a green island surrounded by hundreds of houses. "Can we just sit down?"

Vargas smiled and they sat down on a bench at the entrance of the park, life walking busily and noisily past them. Across the street, shops and restaurants were following after another alternately. Dozens of skyscrapers shoot up into the sky, trying to vie with each other. Giants of glass, beton and iron which touched the clouds, thousands of windows reflecting the sunlight. Van squinted, following a flock of white doves along their way across the sky. Watching them, he felt a prickling sensation in his back which caused shivers down his spine. The doves changed the direction abruptly and attempted to land beside him. 

Landing gracefully, they started to pick on the ground and cooed. A little girl in a blue summer dress suddenly ran towards the doves, squealing and clapping her hands. Hearing the girl, the doves soared terrified, leaving her dancing happily in a swirl of feathers. Pure laughter echoed into the sky and mixed with all the other noises which filled the streets, making the city live. Van suddenly rose from the bench and made an attempt to walk off when Vargas voice stopped him.

"Wait!" he said and rose as well. "Where do you want to go?"

"Nature's calling, Vargas," Van answered with a light grin and pointed at a restaurant, across the street. 

"Oh," was all Vargas replied and then followed Van across the street. 

The restaurant with the name_ Shiroi Ryuu_ was quite full, a lot of people using their lunch break to eat here. Briefcases stood under tables and leaned against chairs, their owners fanning air into their faces while they tugged at the collars of their shirts or fumbled at the hem of their skirts. Fabric rustled when jackets were taken off, the heat unbearable, well-shaped legs crossing continuously. The walls were painted a light orange and a huge white dragon was winding its way across them. It looked amazingly real, looking over dozens of tables and chairs filling the room, exotic plants situated between them.

Absorbing everything, Van walked through the restaurant, his eyes focused on the door with "Men" written across it. Before he opened the door, he stopped, feeling someone standing behind him. Van turned around and spotted Vargas, his reddish-brown eyes asking why he was still at his side.

"I'm coming with you, just in the case that-" Vargas stopped, the look on Van's face speaking volumes. "O-okay, I got the point. I think I'll wait here."

"Thank you, Vargas," Van replied slowly and turned away.

He pulled the door to the men's room open and entered. He sighed, seeing that there was nobody, apart from him. He didn't need to relieve himself but needed to be alone. At least for a few minutes. Not that he didn't appreciate Vargas' company but he just needed to calm down a bit. Alone. He had thought that it would be all easy and that he would cope with it without any problems. But that wasn't the way things went. It was asking a little bit too much of him. Together with all the new impressions bombarding his mind, questions had appeared. Questions which had often nagged at the back of his head but never had nagged as loud as they did right now.     

Closing the door behind him, he walked to a white washbasin and rested his hands on it, looking up. He met his own auburn eyes, partly covered by strands of unruly raven-black hair. It was his image in a mirror at the wall. He looked like all the other human beings out there. There was nothing pointing to the fact that he was different. Totally different. Would they really refuse to accept him? Was this isolation really necessary? Nobody had bothered that he was at the streets. They hadn't even noticed him! Why wasn't he allowed to be as carefree as the little girl who danced with the doves?

Van looked down when he suddenly felt his hands shake. Parts of him had been able to cope with the tons of new impressions, other parts not. He turned the cold water on and let it stream over his hands. Forming a bowl with them, he collected as much of the cool liquid as possible and then dove with his face right into it. It was a pleasant feeling. For a brief moment, it felt as if he was swimming, able to forget his problems and confusing thoughts. But the water slipped slowly through the slits between his fingers and soon it was all gone. He really should stop worrying so much. The way it was right now, was right. They did this for his own good and he shouldn't doubt that.

The young man reached for the towel beside the washbasin and dryed his hands and his face. He should hurry, Vargas was waiting for him and was probably angry. He wouldn't be surprised if Vargas came through the door and looked if everything was alright. That would be just like Vargas; always angry and always worried. Grinning, Van walked to the door and opened it.  

~´´``~

Hitomi pushed the door open which lead out of the kitchen, balancing a full tray on her left hand. At once, the sounds of water boiling, meat frying, dishes being washed and pots clincing were replaced by the sound of voices absorbed in conversations. Conversations of thirsty people. With a light grin on her face, she walked around the till and headed for a table in the other corner of the room where a boy and a girl were stabbing each other with spoons while their parents tried to stop them. Without success, of course. The smile on her face widened even more. She was glad that she had a little bit time left until she was faced with the problem of taming a child. 

She was just about to walk past the men's room, her eyes still fixed on the two children, when the door was suddenly pushed open. She had only time to gasp and then the door hit her and the tray, full of glasses. Orange juice and coffee spilled on her shirt and she watched with wide green eyes the tray fall to the ground. Every head in the restaurant turned around, the light sound of glass shatter to pieces and her frustrated "Dammit!" echoing through the room.

Hastily, she kneeled down into the puddle of at least seven different drinks and began to clean up the mess. Luckily, her sandy-blond hair was hiding her red face. She hated it to be in the center of attention and she was, at the moment, that was for sure. Why had she walked so close to the door? But then again, she couldn't have sensed that someone would exit the toilets! 

"I'm so sorry!" the voice of a young man apologizing made her suddenly stop pondering. Before she could reply, a shadow fell over her and two hands appeared in her view, starting to help her pick up the glass. "This is all my fault! I'm so sorry!"

"No, it's okay," she replied with a smile and looked up.

Hitomi couldn't stop the gasp from passing her lips when she met sparkling auburn eyes. She felt herself blush violantly and her heart beat furiously within her chest. She wanted to run, run far far away and stuff her head in a heap of sand, not wanting to ever come out of it again. But she could do nothing but stare at the handsome young man, kneeling in front of her. His eyes were incredible. Never had she seen such eyes. She knew that albinos had red eyes but he was anything but an albino! His hair was pitch-black and his skin was tanned bronze but yet his eyes were brown and sparkled with a red, she had never seen before. 

Blinking, Hitomi noticed that he was also staring at her. The young man was looking at her with innocent curiosity, his head lightly tilted to the side. He must think that she was crazy for staring at him as if he was an alien. Feeling unbelievably embarassed and not able to bear his intense eyes anymore, Hitomi lowered her head and looked to the ground again.

"You're hurt!" she exclaimed, seeing his hands.

A piece of glass, he had put in his left hand, had sliced deeply into his palm, making blood drip onto the ground. Without thinking, she grabbed his hand and her heart skipped a beat when she brushed with her fingers over his warm skin. Carefully, she took the glass from his palm, not wanting to hurt him and looked surreptitiously up and down his muscular arm. Could her cheeks get any redder?

"Come!" she said after his palm was free from glass and rose to her feet, pulling him with her. "I'll take care of that!"

Hitomi dragged him back into the men's room. She couldn't believe she was doing that. She was violantly clutching the injured hand of a complete stranger - and was probably hurting him this way – and would take care of a wound though she could hardly bear to see blood! Shaking her head, she opened a faucet and put his hand under the jet of water. He flinched when the cold water hit his sensitive flesh, washing the blood out of the wound.

"Sorry!" she whispered and glanced at his profile out of the corner of her eye.

Raven-black strands of unruly hair were shading his eyes but she could see their red glinting. How could anyone have such eyes? They were too deep and too alive to be contact lenses. She trailed down his face over his nose, full lips, chin to the top of his sleeveless red shirt. It was unbuttoned and revealed his collarbones, making her gulp. She glanced up at him in order to see if he had noticed her gaping and was relieved that he had not. He was curiously looking at their hands which were still locked and the realization made Hitomi's eyes widen. It was when he turned around and smiled at her, his auburn eyes dancing. Hastily, she turned away, feeling caught like a bloody idiot. Staring at their hands, she wondered when it had become so hot in the room. 

"Hitomi?"

The green eyed girl jerked violantly when a voice from the door called her name and spun around. There in the doorframe, stood Yukari, hands on her hips and looking at the two of them with raised brows.

"What are you doing here?" the read head asked.

"D-didn't you see the mess out there, Yukari? I dropped the tray a-and..." Hitomi stuttered but trailed off, turning around to look at him again. She didn't even know his name. "What's your name?"

"Van," he answered and smiled again. "My name is Van."

She was staring at him. She was staring at him and she knew it. But she couldn't tear her gaze away from him. She wanted to. Really. She felt that her cheeks were on fire and that her heart was beating like mad against her ribcage. She hated it when her body was acting that way. She always freaked out when she was talking with guys. She turned bright red and began to stutter when they began to flirt with her. And that happened quite often - she was a waitress! She talked with guys every day!  

"Hitomi!" Yukari's voice made her snap out of her trance.

"Huh?" Hitomi replied, finally able to turn away from his eyes.

"Don't you want to finish your sentence?" Yukari asked with a frown. "The floor is one big puddle of who knows what, Van here is bleeding and you seem-"

"Right, he's bleeding!" Hitomi said with a start, interupting her friend and stormed out of the room, finally letting go of Van's hand. "Be right back!"

"Hitomi!" Yukari threw her arms desperately into the air. "Am I talking to a wall?"

"She dropped the tray when I opened the door and hit her," Van explained and watched Yukari, his eyes glinting with amusement. "I cut myself when I helped her pick up the glass." 

"Thank you!" the red head replied, turning around and bowed. "At least, you're not acting as if I'm made of air!"

Van was just about to reply when Hitomi appeared from around the corner, a small brown bottle and bandages in her hand. She glanced at him but when she saw that he was looking at her with this beautiful eyes of him, she turned quickly away. Turning the water off, she opened the bottle and took his injured hand in hers again. With a clean white pad, she carefully dryed his wound, Van watching her every move. A few drops of water dropped from the faucet in the ceramic washbasin and the light noise mixed with the sounds of the muffled conversations, coming from the restaurant. Yukari's high-pitched shriek suddenly broke the peaceful silence, startling both of them.

The red head leaned in the doorframe and panted like mad, her right hand placed over her heart. Hitomi spotted a tall man standing beside her, a cup of steaming coffee in his huge paw and an unreadable but dark look on his face, the huge scar over his left eye completing his ominous appearance. He must have scared the living lights out of Yukari. 

"Vargas!" Van exclaimed, surprised. "Where have you been?"

"Drinking coffee while I waited for you!" he replied, his deep voice reveberating through the empty room. "What happened?"

Hitomi stopped drying Van's hand and reached for the brown bottle, listening carefully to the conversation.

"I cut my palm," the young man answered and added hastily, "Nothing to worry about! I won't bleed to death! It's just a small – ouch!"

"It'll hurt a bit," Hitomi whispered sheepishly, feeling his gaze rest on her again.

She had put the liquid which had been in the bottle on his wound and had forgotten to warn him, too absorbed with listening. Van gritted his teeth and inhaled sharply when a new wave of the liquid swept over his wound. 

"We'll return home when you're finished," Vargas then said matter-of-factly, causing Van's head to snap up.

"No!" the black-haired youth replied firmly, forgetting the pain. "We're here for only one hour or so! We can't return! It's just a stupid cut!"

"Van, I can't answer this for your father anymore!" Vargas explained, his eyes hard. "It's too dangerous! You already hurt yourself! What if something worse happens to you? Maybe you don't know but I'm risking my job right now!"

"Vargas, please!" Van begged, his eyes full of emotions. "Just an hour more! I want to see the park! Please! I'll be careful, I promise!"

It was silent again, apart from the still dropping faucet. The sound of the drops of water hitting the washbasin broke the silence like beats of a drum. Unnaturally loud. Yukari was staring at the two men in front of her, mouth wide open, not sure of what she was watching. Hitomi had finished bandaging Van and was now holding his tanned hand in both of her ones, staring at the white fabric which was covering his palm with wide eyes. What was this about? Another drumbeat broke the silence but nobody made a move, waiting for Vargas to finish the battle which took place within him.    

"Okay," he finally sighed and lowered his head, not able to bear the intensity of Van's gaze anymore. "One hour."

Van's face lit up and his lips curled into a smile. "Are you finished, Hitomi?" he asked quietly, turning to face her.

"Yes!" she replied and dropped Van's hand as if she had burned herself.

"Well then, let's go," Vargas turned to leave.

"Thank you, Hitomi," Van said, the green-eyed girl suddenly very interested in the pattern on the tiles. 

Why had she always to act that strange? Her cheeks had decided to remain red, her heart was beating a hole in her ribcage and she couldn't even look him in the eye! But she knew, if she looked up, she would end up in staring at him shamelessly. He must really think she was crazy! She thought to herself that she was crazy! But why did she care? He was a complete stranger and she would probably never see him again! She didn't need to bother! He was just a stranger. A stranger who knew her name!

Her head snapped up. "How do you know my name?"

A wide grin appeared on his handsome features and he pointed at the upper part of her shirt. The part where a nameplate was attached. Hitomi suddenly felt like a complete idiot and searched desperately for the hole in the floor in which she could vanish.   

"And sorry again for causing so much trouble," Van continued. "It was nice to meet you. Yukari."

"Likewise," they mumbled in unison, Hitomi again avoiding to look into his face but Yukari staring shamelessly at him.  

With a smile and a small nod, Van left the washroom and followed Vargas through the restaurant. It was quiet again. Hitomi fumbled at her shirt while she was listening to the faucet drop. Someone should take care of it.  

"I bet he is a prince," Yukari said and watched Van's retreating form, a serious expression on her face.

"What?" Hitomi asked, looking up.

"There is no other explanation I can find!" Yukari insisted and leaned against the doorframe. "Or what do you think what we just watched?"

"I don't know," Hitomi replied and joined her friend's side.

The handsome stranger had reached the door but before he left the restaurant, he turned around and smiled back at them, making Hitomi blush furiously. Running a hand through his raven-black hair, he turned away and left, disappearing in the crowd of people walking past the door. 

"I mean, have you seen this giant who is accompanying him?" Yukari asked, making Hitomi jerk lightly. "I thought I would die when he suddenly appeared beside me! I bet he was a bodyguard! And remember, he almost ordered Mr. Handsome to return home! He was probably going out without the permission of his father! Hah! Think what you want but I say he is a prince from a country far far away from here, maybe somewhere in the south, with lush green meadows and fields and mountains and – Hitomi, are you even listening?!"

Hitomi looked at the door at the other side of the restaurant. He was gone. Nothing reminded of him, apart from the mess on the floor. "Of course," she answered and slowly, the green-eyed girl kneeled down and began to pick up the broken glass.

"And what do you say?" the red head asked eagerly. 

"You're crazy, Yukari."

~´´``~

**Anime Monkey:** I'm glad that you're still reading!!! ^_^ And I hope I could answer some of your questions!!! Thx!!!!!!!!!!

**Esca-lover:** *blushs* Thankiez!!! 

**Kayo:** ^_^ Yes, you were really nice I can say!! And Van is totally hot with wings!!!*blushs* I'm glad you like it and I'm really sorry to disappoint you but Hitomi does play an important role in the story. But I hope you liked it, nevertheless!!!! Thanks again so much!!!

**Ryuu Angel:** Poor you!! ff.net really seems to hate you :P I would also be pissed if they cut my reviews!!! So thanks again for the mail, girl!!!! Can't await to get the rest ^_____^

**Silver Magiccraft:** ^_______^ Thankiez!! 

**Sakura Scout:** *blushs* Thanks!! Hope you liked it!!!

**SabineballZ: ***Kopf einzieh weil Tassen durch die Luft fliegen* ^_^ Hehe, ich hoffe, dass das Kapitel deine Fragen beantwortet hat! Tief einatmen und immer schön ruhig bleiben ^_^ *knuddel* Danke noch mal!!!

**TennyoAngel711:** ^_^ You like it!!! Thanx!!! And yes, Van is a computer-junky! Mmmh, let's see what he's going to play next ^_^ And why is Vargas sometimes called Balgus?? Is this the Japanese name??? I'm totally clueless!! Good to hear that the dance was nice and congrats on passing driver's ed!!!! I'm afraid :P

**DragonTamer9741:** Thankiez!!! Here is more!!!! ^_^

**Yami Kanis:** ^_^ Yes, Van and his burgers! Hehe!! I love his wings too!!!!! So beautiful!!! Hope you liked it and thanks for reviewing!!!

**A/N: **So that was long! I really did fight with this chapter!!!! Though I read it over and over again I still think that it seems sometimes rushed and sometimes too long. But I hope you liked it and if there are any questions just ask!!!!

Till next chapter,

Dariel****


	5. Teddy bear

Hiyaaaaaaa, folks!!! Yeah, I'm still alive and I'm sorry for not updating earlier!! But there had just happened so much!! I was on vacation and then school started again and the teachers began torturing me again with their homeworks and tests!!! *grumbles* You see, I'm just a poor and busy student!!!! ^_^

*bear hug for Ryuu Angel* Thousand thanks, girl, for stepping on my feet and urging me to update!!!!! Sometimes, I'm just horribly lazy and need someone to kick my butt ^_^ If it wasn't for you this would have taken a lot more time!!! Thank you!!!

And oh yeah, before I forget (happens quite often u_u) Vargas Maradha is Balgus!! I didn't know his last name, so I thought of one myself!

DISCLAIMER: And once again, I don't own Escaflowne! How often did I already say that?? *shakes head* 

CHAPTER  5  Teddy bear

Black high heels clicked over clean white tiles, the pale light of halogen lamps reflected on their smooth surface. The sound echoed along the empty hallway, hasty steps making a black skirt become taut continuously. Millerna had a pile of papers clutched to her chest, her delicate fingers clinging to the paper as if her life depended on it. Her long blond hair was tamed in a ponytrail and her violet orbs were focused on the door at the end of the hallway. Her heartbeat increased with every step she took. She was excited. Behind the door waited Isaac Dornkirk and the top management of Dornkirk Inc. together with Meiden Fassa, head of the Fassa Trading Company, and a bunch of scientists who were dying to know what she had found out. It was a small group of carefully chosen people.

And she had to speak in front of them! Of course, she wanted to tell them everything. She wanted them to know about their success. She wanted them to know that all these years of investigating and researching and the eighteen long years of waiting hadn't been in vain! But was it necessary that she had to speak in front of them? She didn't like that. She was always so nervous when people were staring at her. Important people. And it was like a curse that whenever she tried her best not to make a mistake, she would make one a hundred percent! Maybe she should just relax. Maybe she should imagine that they were all naked. Giggling, the young woman shook her head and reached for the doorknob. No, that would definitely not help!

Pushing the door open, she was greeted by the scent of wood and paper. Her footsteps were muffled by a light brown and patternless carpet when she walked across the small anteroom. The wall to her right was made of glass, giving her a breath-taking view above the city. The windows of the skyscrapers and the rooves of innumerable houses sparkled in the light of the afternoon sun. The ruffling of fabric made her turn around and she spotted a woman sitting behind a desk, at the other side of the room. Her curly brown hair was tied in a bun and her glasses reflected the light of the computer on her desk. She was in her fifties and her brown eyes sparkled when she smiled at Millerna.

"They're already waiting, Dr. Aston," she said, her hand placed on top of a pile of files. 

"I know," Millerna replied and smiled uneasily, walking past the mahagony desk.

She grabbed the golden doorknob of the huge wooden double door in front of her which was leading to the conference room. Millerna took a deep breath in order to calm her racing heart and inhaled the pleasant scent of damp earth. The huge ficcus in the corner to her right must have just been watered. Pressing the papers close to her chest, she glanced back at the elder woman and earning an encouraging nod, she pushed the door open.

At once, voices surrounded her but they immediately died down when she closed the door with a light click, every head in the room turning to look at her. She felt her cheeks burning and her heart beating in her throat. How she loved that!

"I'm sorry for being late," she mumbled, trying to avoid looking her audience in the eye.

"Ah, Millerna!" Dornkirk's voice reached her ears, making her look up. 

Isaac Dornkirk stood at the head of the long table which was occupying the center of the room. He wore an anthracite coloured suit which was a strong contrast to his curly grey hair. It reached his waist, as well as his beard. His face was full of wrinkles and there were even more when he smiled at her, his purple eyes sparkling. Although he was far above his sixties, he was still the managing director of Dornkirk Inc. This was his firm and his skyscraper. He had founded the firm a long time ago, out of no-where. It had taken a long time, but now Dornkirk Inc. was the most important producer of pharmaceutical products. Add to this that he also owned, at least, two hospitals in the city and that he commited himself really much to genetic research. 

He was her mentor. He had recruited her and he had given her the possibility to study at the best university. He had made it possible that she had access to the probably best lab on the whole world and that she could be a part of an incredible project. Nobody had ever dared to do it –not just because it was forbidden- and nobody had ever thought it was possible. But they had managed it. He had managed it. Millerna looked up to the man in front of her. Maybe that was the reason why she wore violet contact lenses.

"Everything alright?" his deep voice made her snap out of her thoughts.

"Yes," she replied and smiled. "I just couldn't find my notes."

"Now you're here and we can begin," Isaac said and pointed towards an empty seat. "Please, sit down."

Millerna nodded and placing her papers carefully on the table, she sat down. After smoothing her skirt, she looked up. The blond-haired woman knew what he would tell them and the anticipation was almost killing her. She could hardly await their reaction. Kneading her hands, she watched Dornkirk.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he greeted and bowed lightly. "I'm glad you're all here today and I promise you won't regret it! I've the pleasure to tell you that Project Gaea is finally crowned with success!" 

A smile of satisfaction spread across her face when she saw the surprised faces and heard the murmur. A light hum could be heard when the projector at the other side of the room suddenly came to life and threw a picture at the white painted wall behind Dornkirk; a globe which was partly overlapped by a reflected image of itself, "Project Gaea" written across them.

"It all began with a crazy bet," the grey-haired man continued. "Who would have thought it would actually be possible? We all know that what we've done is illegal and that we're committing an offence but we also know that it is an enormous breakthrough in genetic engineering! Undreamt-of possibilities are presenting themselves but maybe..." he paused and smiled, "maybe you should see it at first and then decide for yourselves." 

He stepped to the side and revealed the picture he had covered partly. With a light motion of his hand, Dornkirk signaled to start the film. It was the recording of a supervising camera. They could see a lab where a raven-haired youth was sitting on a chair and was examined by scientists. There was no sound. Millerna looked away. She knew what would come and she wanted to see their reaction. Her eyes trailed across the faces around the table. She knew them all. Scientists of high standing who had signed a contract which said that nothing of what would be said now, would leave these walls. 

Suddenly, her breath was caught in her throat, her eyes locking with a pair of brown ones which were sparkling mischievously from behind small glasses. Curly brown hair framed his handsome face, looking the same like three years ago. He hadn't changed a single bit and it was like a punch in the face to see him now. She hadn't expected to see him now, she hadn't expected to see him within the next twenty years! She wasn't prepared for this! Nobody had told her about that! He was supposed to be far far away from her! He wasn't supposed to be here and turn her well arranged life upside down! Why now? Why her? Why him?

She didn't notice the screams of surprise which erupted from the audience when the tape showed the crucial sequence. Chairs were overturned; pencils which had been turned between fingers, broken in halfs; water which had just been drunken, spat out by the moment, angelic wings sprouted from the back of the black-haired youth. Voices rose and questions were asked, everyone speaking at the same time but Millerna just sat there and stared into the deep brown eyes across the table. 

"Millerna?"

Her head spun around and she faced Dornkirk who was looking at her with raised brows. "It's your turn to continue."

"Yes yes!" she replied hastily and gathered her papers with slightly shaking hands.

She rose from her seat and walked to the end of the table, the rustling of her skirt and the paper, she was rummaging through, being the only sound. Everyone was waiting for her. Millerna turned to her audience and as if her body had his own will, her eyes searched his ones again. Their gazes locked. She bit her lip hard, seeing him grin from ear to ear. Oh, she wouldn't let him ruin this! She had fought really hard and he wouldn't ruin it! Knitting her delicate brows in anger, she glared at him across the wooden table. Be strong, Millerna!

Clearing her throat, she forced herself to turn away from his intense eyes and began with her report.

                                                                                                  ~´´``~

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Vargas' wooden sword slice through the air and rising his own one, he blocked the thrust. A hollow noise echoed through the training hall when their swords clashed together and Van gasped. Sweat tickled down his temples and his arms started to shake with strain, Vargas leaning onto him with all his power. 

_What's your name?_

Bright green eyes, partly covered by sandy-blond hair, a light blush adorning her cheeks. He saw her face clearly in his mind. He saw her standing in the doorframe of the men's room, brows raised questioningly and a brownish, wet spot decorating her once white shirt. He couldn't forget her. Couldn't forget her voice, couldn't forget the way she had looked at him and how she had blushed when he had caught her staring at him, couldn't forget her shy smile.

With an unbelievable force, Vargas suddenly knocked the sword out of Van's hands, making him snap out of his thoughts.

"Dammit, Van!" Vargas yelled, his voice reveberating from the walls. "Concentrate yourself!"

With a thud, Van's sword hit the ground and the auburn-eyed youth slowly turned to look at his hands. Clean white bandages covered the cut on his left palm. He could still feel her hands brushing gently over his skin. 

"What's wrong with you?" Vargas' voice reached him through the veil of thoughts which was shielding his mind. "The whole day you seem to be totally absent! We can't train when you're distracted! You'll only get hurt if you aren't able to concentrate!"

_It'll hurt a bit._

Van looked up at Vargas and taking a step ahead, he positioned himself so that the huge man blocked him from the eye of the camera which was observing the room. Vargas raised his brows, stretching the scar over his left eye.

"Why am I not able to forget her?" Van asked quietly, looking his friend directly in the eye.

"Who?" Vargas replied and crossed his arms in front of his chest, still holding the wooden sword.

"Hitomi," the black-haired youth answered and looked at his hand again, not aware that Vargas' eyes flickered, alarmed.

"What do you mean with that?" Vargas slowly unfolded his arms.

"I don't understand myself!" Van said and ruffled his hair in despair. "I mean I was with her for ten minutes and have spoken less than ten sentences but though she's still on my mind! I see her face and hear her voice and-and..."

"Van?" Vargas asked carefully when he trailed off.

"I want to go out and see her again, Vargas," the young man replied, making Vargas stiffen and his eyes widen. He was just about to turn around when Van stopped him. "Don't worry, you're shielding me from the camera. They won't be able to read from my lips...am I crazy, Vargas?"

He thought of himself that he was crazy. He didn't even know her! 

The tall man relaxed a bit. "No, unfortunately not," he answered and seeing the look on Van's face, he added, "What do you expect from me?"

"Well, I thought we could just-"

"No, Van!" Vargas interupted him harshly, knowing what the answer would be. "That had been a unique chance! Don't you dare thinking that this will be growing into a habit! I risked a lot and it almost went wrong!" He pointed at Van's injured hand.

"But-" Van tried to complain.

"I said no!" Vargas repeated, his voice uncompromisingly. "How do you think I'll explain that? It won't be always that easy as to say that you overturned a glass in my office and cut your palm!"

"That happened one time!" Van almost shouted. "Why are you so sure that it'll happen again?"

"Why are you so sure that it won't happen again?" Vargas replied and leaned down, his eyes now in level with Van's rusty coloured ones. The young man sighed.

"Vargas, please!"

                                                                                           ~´´``~

With a sigh, Millerna fell into a chair, leaning backwards and stared at the ceiling of the conference room. They were all gone now. Man, who would have thought that they would be that curious? They had asked questions for three hours and a good half of these questions, she hadn't been able to answer! She reached up with her hand and touched her neck. Her throat was as dry as sandpaper from all the speaking but it had been great. She loved scientific discussions and that had been one hell of a discussion. The blond-haired woman grinned, remembering their stunned looks.

She stretched lazily. Of course, nobody had expected that. In the beginning of Project Gaea, they had laughed about Dornkirk. They had called him a maniac for trying something like that. They had said it was impossible and only a handful of people had supported him. Dornkirk himself had told her everything, she had wanted to know about the project. It had been an honour for her to prove them all wrong. It was possible and Van was the living example! But it meant that she wouldn't be able to examine Van alone anymore. All these scientists who had gotten to know about Van today were dying to see him, to see his incredible uniqueness with their own eyes.

Yawning, Millerna tilted her head to the side and glanced at the silver watch on her wrist. She should hurry up. There were still a lot of things to do. She had to check the datas again, she had to do the simulation at the computers again – maybe this time she would find out if Van's wings were able to carry him, she had to speak with her assistants about the next examination...yes, she definitely should hurry up! Nearly bursting with optimism, Millerna jumped out of the chair and grabbed her folders. A today-is-a-great-day-grin plastered across her face, she walked around the table and left the conference room through the double door. 

"Hey, princess."

She stopped dead in her tracks, the grin vanishing and her eyes widening in shock. Forget that! Today wasn't a great day. Over all the questions and excitement, she had totally forgotten about him. He had left after she had finished her report and when the questioning had started. He must have waited the whole time. Here. For her. Why hadn't he left this building, this city, her life? Why did he wait? There was nothing she had to tell him and there was nothing she wanted to talk about with him. Three years had passed and she had lived on, without him. Why did he suddenly feel like disturbing her? Slowly, she turned around.

Her heart skipped a beat when she spotted him leaning casually at the wall beside the door, his eyes sparkling at her from behind the glasses. He wore brown pants and a green shirt, holding the matching tie in his right hand. It seemed he still hated them. His curly brown hair was tamed in a ponytrail and he was grinning broadly at her. She bit her lip, feeling her heart beat madly in her chest and a blush creep upon her cheeks. Calling her body a traitor, she took a deep breath and glared at Dryden.

"What are you doing here, Dryden?" she asked flatly.

"Nice to see you too," he replied playfully and after pushing himself off the wall, he bowed. "It's been a long time and you look more beautiful than ever before if you allow the remark."

Millerna stiffened, her cheeks on fire. She glanced at the mahagony desk of the secretary only to find it forsaken. If it was better that way or not, she couldn't say. "T-that doesn't answer my question," she stuttered, a little bit confused. What did he intend?

"Always the fast one," Dryden said and pushed the glasses up his nose. "I'm here because father wanted me to. I should see what was the reason for spending so much money that it hurt. I should understand his intentions and should be a part of this incredible project you have here!"

Millerna knitted her delicate brows. She didn't like his tone. He sounded so...sarcastic. "Why the sudden change of opinion?" she asked. "I thought you don't like what your father is doing."

What was she doing here? Having small-talk with Dryden Fassa as if nothing had happened? Dryden whom she had seen the last time, three years ago? What would happen next? Maybe they would go out, maybe in an expensive restaurant with expensive meals, expensive plants and expensive fishes, swimming in expensive aquariums and speak about continuing where they had stopped? She snorted mentally. Why now? She had just finished tidying the filing cabinet that was her life and suddenly, he appeared and tried to pick the lock at the "long-forgotten past" drawer in order to fish for his file!  

"That's right," he replied, interupting her thoughts and then smiled sadly. "I admit I came here because of selfish reasons...I wanted to see the reason why you left me."

Oh perfect! She saw the drawer burst open and all her carefully arranged files lying scattered across the ground, thanks to Dryden. Yeah, of course, their parting hadn't been really nice and she hadn't gotten in touch with him one single time but was that a reason to face her without a warning?

"And?" she asked, directing her gaze to the ground, not able to bear his intense eyes. 

"Well, it had been worth it, hadn't it?" he replied bitterly. "I mean here, you're part of the 'breakthrough in genetic engineering' like your dear Isaac Dornkirk said. If you had stayed with me you just would've been Mrs. Millerna Fassa, nothing more. The decision was easy, right?"

She bit her lip even harder. The bitterness in his voice was like a slap across the face. She had hurt him a lot and he wasn't willing to forgive her. She could understand him but it wasn't fair to burst into her life just like that!

"Was that what you actually intended to do? Making me feel guilty?" Millerna asked, tightening the grip around her files. 

"Millerna..." Dryden began, running a hand through his hair but was interupted by her.

"I have a lot of things to do, Dryden," she said coldly and turned around. "If you excuse me..."

And with that she walked off, not even glancing back. 

                                                                                               ~´´``~

Empty glasses clinked when Hitomi put her full tray onto the bar. She straightened and ran a hand over her face and through her hair. The restaurant was quite full and because it was really warm outside, there was even more to do. The thirsty mob hadn't any pity left for the poor waitress. She was glad that she wasn't alone to work here. Sighing, Hitomi looked out of the windows. It was a perfect day to go into the park and sit at the fountain and just watch the people walking by. Absently, she reached for the pendant, hanging at a golden chain around her neck, and turned the pink gem between her fingers.

"How looong?" someone groaned beside her, making her turn around and letting go of the pendant. 

A grin spread across Hitomi's face when she spotted Merle leaning on the bar, arms stretched out, forehead touching the wood. Poor poor girl. Merle was waiting now for half an hour for Hitomi to finish her shift. The pink-haired girl was definitely lacking patience.

"It's so hard for you, isn't it?" Hitomi replied and reached over the bar to pat Merle's back.

"Ooh yes!" she replied and banged her head against the bar.

Hitomi could do nothing but grin at the sight of her cousin Merle almost dying because of boredom. She had arrived two days ago and it had been quite a surprise for Hitomi. Not only because the girl now had pink hair but also because she hadn't known that Merle would stay a few weeks of her holidays at her house! The green-eyed girl had come home, unsuspecting, and had found her room occupied by someone else. Clothes which had definitely not been hers had lain scattered across her bed and floor, posters had been attached to her walls and a huge teddy bear had sat on the chair in front of her desk, looking at her as if asking "What's wrong?". Well, she had screamed and a confused Merle had appeared from the bathroom, a green paste covering her face. Needless to say that the greeting hadn't been very warmly.

"Look, Merle," Hitomi said and glanced at her watch. "Only fifteen minutes and I'm done. Then we can go wherever you want, meeting Yukari and Amano or run naked through the streets."

"Fifteen minutes are fifteen too much," Merle replied, her voice sounding muffled because she was speaking against the bar.

The girl wore an orange summer dress which matched her tanned skin perfectly. Hitomi envied Merle for her tan, she always had and she always would because she never got a tan like that! Everything she got, was a sunburn and it annoyed her! Shaking her head, she turned away and put the dirty glasses into the sink unit. Hitomi looked briefly at the list of orders and taking some clean glasses, she began to fill them.

"Don't despair, Merle," Hitomi said, putting a full glass on the tray and reached for the next one. "Hikari is always over-punctual. I bet she steps through that door right now and then..."

Merle looked up when Hitomi trailed off. "Er...Hitomi?" she asked dryly, knitting her brows in confusion. "The Sprite is overflowing if you haven't noticed."   

Merle was staring at Hitomi and at the full glass, she was holding in her hand. Sprite was still flowing out of the automat and purred over Hitomi's hands. Merle scratched her head and seeing that her friend was staring at something with wide eyes, she turned around to follow Hitomi's gaze. 

"What is?" she asked, looking around the restaurant, totally confused.

Hitomi didn't reply. She couldn't reply, just stare out of the windows. There he stood, on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant and talked with the giant from two days ago. He wore black pants and a sleeveless, white shirt, his pitch-black hair sparkling in the sunlight. Hitomi watched him run a hand desperately through his hair and then keeping on and on at the tall man again. She felt her heart beating in her throat. Well, she hadn't expected to see him again! Actually, she had been convinced that the whole incident had been a dream. A really embaressing dream. She had wanted to kick herself for having acted so...so just like she always did! But then again, she had told herself that he didn't know her and that she would probably never see him again. Obviously, she had been wrong.

"Who's there?" Merle asked, craning her neck to see past a group of people who were blocking her view.

Hitomi opened her mouth but no words came out. Maybe he was just going for a walk! Why else should he be here? He would turn around and leave at any moment! Her eyes suddenly widened even more. 

Nope, he wasn't going for a walk. He had just thanked Vargas with effusive bows and was right now stepping through the entrance of the _Shiroi Ryuu_. Alone. The young man looked around and spotting her behind the bar, a smile appeared on his handsome features. Chewing on some chewing-gum and hands casually in the pockets of his pants, he worked his way through the restaurant, heading in her direction. Hitomi's mind was a mess. Her body temperature was around thirty-nine point three degrees, her pulse-beat was something between a hundred meter sprint and swimming in a pool with crocodiles and her breathing frequency – which breathing frequency?!   

"Hi, Hitomi!" he greeted and grinned at her when he reached the bar. 

Gods, this outfit suited him so much. She looked him up and down and her cheeks were on fire when her eyes finally found his ones. Hitomi was staring into his sparkling auburn depths, strands of unruly hair hiding them partly. Where was Yukari when she needed her? Where was her knightress in shining armor, the master of the situation? Yukari would have saved her! Yukari seemed to know all and everyone! She would have been able to start a conversation with Van and wouldn't have stared at him like Hitomi did right now. The green-eyed girl watched the muscles in his cheeks move while he was chewing and watched the smile vanish. Why was his grin suddenly changing into a confused expression? 

"Er...something is overflowing..." Van said slowly and pointed at her hands.

Was he talking to her? Hitomi tilted her head downwards and shrieked. Sprite was pourring over her hands and had already flooded the bar! She had forgotten to stop pushing the button which made the sweet drink flow over her hands like a waterfall! Hastily, she pulled her hand away and it stopped. She put the glass away and reached for a cloth, feeling Van's intense gaze rest on her. Well done! Her second impression was even better than the first one! Why was she so unbelievably clumsy? He must think that she was a complete idiot.

"Can I help you?" Van's rich voice reached her, making her head snap up.

"No!" she said quickly. "No, it's okay! Er...I'd like you to meet someone, Van." Hitomi pointed beside him and turning around, he spotted a pink-haired girl sitting beside him. "This is my cousin Merle. Merle, this is Van." 

Hitomi turned away after introducing them and devoted herself to the flooded bar. Why her? Why did that always happen to her? She was like a huge magnet but instead of attracting iron things, she attracted mishaps! It was a damn curse, she knew it! Angrily, she started to clean the wood, unaware of Van smiling at her.

"Hey, Van!" Merle said, looking curiously at him and smiled.

He locked his auburn eyes with Merle's bright blue ones. "Nice to meet you!" he said and waved at her with his right hand. "So, you're Hitomi's cousin?"

"Hmm," Merle nodded. "I arrived two days ago and I must say Hitomi wasn't all too happy to see me."

"Why's that?" Van asked and watched over Merle's shoulder Hitomi clean the bar, her sandy-blond hair hiding her bright red cheeks.

Merle giggled and told him the story about her arrival. Hitomi looked up, hearing Van chuckle. She watched him run a hand through his hair and watched Merle laugh heartilly while she was telling him something. The green-eyed girl felt jealousy pinch in the pit of her stomach. Jealousy and envy. She wanted to talk with Van and make him smile and she wanted to be able to act as casually as Merle did. Hitomi gasped. Why was she having such crazy thoughts? Feeling jealous at Merle for talking with a guy she didn't know? Why? She shook her head. She was just surprised to see him, nothing more.

"Van," Hitomi said after clearing her throat and threw the cloth into the sink unit, making the water splash. "Tell me, why are you here?"

"Oh, I was going for a walk," he answered, turning to look at her and Hitomi felt disappointment rush through her. 

Stop! Why was she disappointed? Had she expected that he was here because of her? That he had left his high-security-hotel-room in which Yukari's crazy imagination had put him, only to visit her? He didn't even know her! But it would have felt good if it had been that way. 

"And I thought, I could visit you and check if everything is alright or if you had been fired because of me," Van continued and Hitomi's heart skipped a beat or two.

An unbelievable heat streamed into her cheeks and she hastily turned away. Okay, that was how it felt and it did indeed feel good. Well, maybe a little bit too good for her cheeks didn't want to return back to normal and her heart just kept on beating as if she was running the marathon.

"N-no, of course not!" Hitomi stuttered and tried to hide her horribly blushed cheeks. "Actually, that happens quite often," she admitted and Van gave a laugh.

"By the way, how's your hand?" she asked quietly. 

"Fine," he replied and holding up his bandaged left hand, he turned it a few times. "It was just a little scratch."

"Of course!" Hitomi mocked and he grinned. "So, what are you going to do now?"

"Well...," Van began and turned to look at Merle whose eyes were shining hopefully while she fanned fresh air into her face with the menu. "I don't know. Merle here...,"

"I invited him to come with us to the fair in the park!" the pink-haired girl cut in, a little bit too enthusiastically. "Is that okay with you?"

"I-I don't know why I should mind," Hitomi replied and the thought of him coming along with them made her heart do a somersault.

"Yeah," Van said and scratched the back of his head. "But I don't think that Vargas will be that happy if I come with you..."

"We don't mind if he escorts you, really!" Hitomi quickly said, surprised over herself. Why was she suddenly so hell-bent on having him keeping them company? 

Van laughed lightly. "Well, the problem is that I actually promised him to..."

"Hey Hitomi!" a shout from the door interupted him. 

The three of them turned around and looked at the brown-haired girl who was walking towards them, a happy smile on her face. She wore the same black skirt and white shirt which Hitomi wore and a long braid swayed elegantly with her steps, a red backpack hanging loosely over her right shoulder. 

"Hey Hikari!" Hitomi greeted. 

"Seems we can go!" Merle squealed and clapped her hands. "Go change, Hitomi!"

"Yeah, hurry up and change!" Van echoed with a grin. 

"Does that mean you're coming with us?!" the green eyed girl asked, drying her hands with a towel.

He shrugged in reply. "If we manage to convice Vargas."

"Are you going to the fair?" Hikari asked and slipped behind the bar, throwing her bag in a corner. "I heard that it's supposed to be really great. A lot of bands will play."

"Yes, I know that!" Merle replied and turned to glare at Hitomi who was standing beside Hikari. "And we would already be gone if Ms. Kanzaki here would finally change!" 

"But I still have got orders!" Hitomi said, holding her note in her right hand and waving it in front of Merle's face.

"I can take them, Hitomi," Hikari replied. "That's no problem." 

"Thank you!" the emerald-eyed girl bowed deeply. Glancing at Merle, she held up her hands in a defensive motion and turned around, heading for the staff room.

"Well then, have fun at the party!" Hikari said, taking Hitomi's note of orders from the bar and waved at Merle and Van. "Bye!"

"Bye!" both of them said.

"Who is Vargas?" Merle asked when Hikari was gone and stared at Van with curious blue eyes.

"A friend," the black-haired youth explained, looking around the restaurant. The conversations which were floating in the warm air were a steady humming in the background, the clinking of glasses and plates or the sound of a fork, falling to the ground, disturbing it. "I'm new here and he's supposed to show me around and look after me. He's always worried."

"So, you're new here," Merle repeated and Van felt an uncomfortable feeling crawl through his body. "Where do you come from and how did you meet Hitomi?"

"Well...," Van ran a hand nervously through his hair. He had hoped that he wouldn't be confronted with questions like these. 

"Look!" Hitomi's cheerful voice ended his misery. "I'm ready! That's a new record!"

She stood in the doorframe of the staff room, wearing black pants which reached to her knees, white sandals and a simple red top, her eyes shining like emeralds. Van blushed when he noticed that he was looking her up and down with his mouth half-open and quickly turned away.

"Let's go then," he said and walked off, Merle following him after placing the menu back where it belonged.

Hitomi grabbed her backpack and stormed out of the restaurant as well, waving at Hikari before stepping through the door. At once, she was surrounded by the noises and the scents of the city, the sun warming her from above. Hitomi closed her eyes for a brief moment and enjoyed the warm feeling on her skin, listening to the music of the cicadas which could be heard above all the other noises.

"And where is this Vargas?" she heard Merle ask and opened her eyes. 

Van pointed at a few benches at the other side of the street and they crossed it after a huge truck had went noisily past them. Hitomi spotted Vargas who wasn't quite easy to oversee and he rose from his sitting position when he spotted them as well, crossing his mighty arms in front of his chest. A deep frown appeared on his face. 

"Van, what does that mean?" he asked, his brows knitted in disapproval.

"Well," Van began and scratched the back of his head again, smiling uneasily. "Merle and Hitomi invited me to come with them to the party in the park..."

Vargas' eyes widened and Van knew it had been a bad idea. "No!" Vargas replied, louder than he had intended to. "I can't allow it and you know that quite well! It wasn't part of the deal!"

"What is this all about?" Merle asked before Van could open his mouth, looking from Van to Vargas. "Why can't you come with us?"

"Yeah, Vargas, why can't I go with them?" Van echoed innocently, an idea suddenly coming to his mind.

"Van!" Vargas barked angrily. He knew what Van was planning to do and he didn't like it a single bit because he was going to lose that game!

"What?" Van replied, holding up his hands. "Explain them why I can't join them and we'll head back home!"

"Hitomi, what does that mean?" Merle asked, totally confused.

"I'll explain that later," the green-eyed girl answered, watching Van and Vargas curiously.

If looks could kill, Van would be more than dead. But they couldn't and that's why he was just smiling cheekily at Vargas who seemed to fight a hard battle within him. A snarl escaped the tall man's throat before he spoke.

"There'll be repercussions!" he hissed through gritted teeth, making Van's grin reach to his ears.

                                                                                                     ~´´``~

"Ah, you did it!" Hitomi squealed, jumping up and down beside Van.

With a metal sound, the last two tins landed onto the ground, joining the other eight ones which were already lying there. Van had overturned the complete tower of tins with three throws. Hitomi had paid and he had thrown the balls, now it was her turn to chose the prize. 

"The big teddy bear, up there in the corner!" Hitomi said eagerly, pointing at a brown soft toy with round black eyes and a happy face.

The stand owner, an ominous looking man with a bald head and a cigarette in his mouth, reached up and revealed his arm which was covered with tattoos by grabbing the teddy. With glistening eyes, Hitomi took the teddy and immediately nuzzled it. Van watched her and could do nothing but smile.

"Thank you so much, Van!" Hitomi continued, her voice muffled by the teddy.

"You're welcome," he replied and turned around. "It was your money after all."

They were standing on a meadow in the park which was full of stands. The stands hemmed the ways and could be found on every free place in this area of the park. You could buy nearly every kind of sweets like sugared nuts, mini-donuts and popcorn; you could try your luck at various lottery stands and shooting galleries. The scent of grilled meat and of the sweets hovered in the air and lights of every colour illuminated the night. Strings with coloured light bulbs connected the stands and covered the whole place with a glowing light, reflected on the surface of the pond in the center of this fair.  

The laughter and conversations of hundreds of people filled the air. They were blocking the ways by standing in line or looking at some piece of jewelry which was sold at a lot of stands or just by chatting with their friends, they hadn't seen for an eternity. Over all was the music which came from different stages around, the bands trying to drown each other. And above all that towered a huge Ferris wheel which could be seen through the trees from everywhere. The thick struts were glowing and blinking, the colours changing continuously. Van had needed some time to cope with this amount of impressions and his eyes just hadn't wanted to stop looking around when they had arrived at the party. 

"I hope you're finally satisfied, Hitomi!" Yukari said and tapped with her right foot impatiently on the ground, holding Amano's hand.

She was waiting with the others in front of the stand where Van had won the teddy for Hitomi. 

"Yes!" the green-eyed girl replied happily and nuzzled the bear again, "You know, I've always wanted one!"

"Yeah, but it would have been a lot cheaper if you had bought it in some shop!" Yukari stated desperately, reminding her best friend of the fact that she had tried it herself four times in vain until she had finally asked Van to throw for her.

Hitomi just stuck her tongue out at Yukari. "Well, that's settled," Yukari sighed. "Let's go! My favorite band will perform in a few minutes at the huge open-air stage and I want to see them!"

"Then why are you still here?" Hitomi asked. "There was no need to wait for me."

Yukari cried out in frustration and threw her arms in the air, pulling Amano's arm with her. 

"Calm down, Yukari!" Amano said, placing a hand on her shoulder and grinned at Hitomi. "She was just joking. Now come or we'll miss your band!"

Snorting, the red head turned on her heals and motioned for Van and Merle to follow her. "Come, we weren't finished yet!"

Van rolled his eyes, making Hitomi chuckle. Yukari had just informed a more than curious Merle about the whole incident with Van meeting Hitomi because Hitomi had somehow forgotten to mention it. Of course, Yukari had horribly exaggerated, turning the glasses in prohibitive flatware, Van's scratch in a life-threatening flesh wound and Vargas in the angel of darkness himself. Van and Hitomi had tried to take away the dramatic but it had been totally useless. That was Yukari!

"Speaking of Vargas," Yukari began eagerly while walking along the way to the stage and looked around. "Where's your bodyguard?"

"Right behind us," Van pointed with his thumb over his shoulder. "He granted me a little bit room to breathe."

Looking over her shoulder, Yukari spotted the giant among the crowd. Why hadn't she noticed him earlier? They were strolling across the place for hours and it was already dark. There had been no Vargas when they had met at the entrance of the park but she guessed he had followed them the whole time.

"So, he's your bodyguard?" she kept on, her brown eyes little slits when she turned to look at him again. 

"Who? Vargas? No," Van replied and looked at a woman with long black hair who had a crying baby in her arm. She was desperately rummaging through the bags, attached to the dark-blue pram in front of her, until she finally found the bottle. The baby kept quiet by the moment, the young woman stuffed the bottle into the wide-open mouth and Van smiled. "Just a little bit over-protective."

"You're grown up," Yukari stated, studying his profile. "Why should he be so worried about you and follow you everywhere you go?"

An impish grin tugged at the corner of his mouth but he didn't turn to look at her. "What do you think?"

"What is the truth?"

He turned around and looked her in the eye. "You don't expect me to answer that question, do you?"

Yukari didn't look away, she just stared right back at him. "You're no fun, you know?" she finally grumbled and turned away.

"Do you mind if I keep you company?" a voice beside her made Hitomi suddenly jerk. She turned away from a laughing Van and Merle only to look in a pair of sparkling blue eyes.

"Of course not, Allen," Hitomi smiled at the blond-haired man and together they followed the others.

Allen Shezar was a friend of Amano and she had met him the first time today, when she had met Yukari at the entrance of the park. She had been quite surprised because nobody had told her that Amano would bring someone along. Allen was studying journalism here in the city and Amano had met him at his workplace but Hitomi didn't know exactly how they had befriended each other. The two guys had just grinned when she had asked. She glanced briefly at the young man who was walking calmly beside her. His piercing blue eyes were focused on some spot somewhere in the distance and his long blond hair swayed softly in the warm breeze.

"Now tell me, Allen," Hitomi said curiously, making him turn to look at her. "How did you meet Amano?"

A deep laughter escaped Allen's throat. "Yukari said that you were more a shy and quiet one but it seems she doesn't know you that good!" he stated and Hitomi blushed a deep red.

Sometimes she just wanted to strangle Yukari for not keeping her mouth shut!

"Well, I can be quiet if you want me to," Hitomi replied meekly and watched the ground.

"No, I didn't mean it that way!" Allen said hastily. "Well, I tell you, okay? I was searching some information for an article, I should write for my study. I went to the station of channel TCN where I should meet some guy who was supposed to give me that information. But when I arrived there, there was nobody and I had absolutely no time to wait cause my professor would have killed me if I had come to late to his lectures again. And yeah, the office of this guy was open and well..." he trailed off, grinning.

Hitomi looked ahead, suddenly hearing Van's unmistakable laughter. He was holding his sides and laughing his head off while Merle punched his arm again and again, Amano and Yukari just shaking their heads. Something inside her turned into a knot and she hugged her teddy tightly, seeing the both of them act so intimately.

"Well, I thought because nobody was there, nobody could mind if I searched for the information myself," Allen continued and Hitomi turned away from her friends. "I entered the office and rummaged through all the stuff there, until the guy came and you might guess that he wasn't happy to see me. He was so angry and yelled at me, accusing me for intruding his privacy and even threatened with calling the police! And he didn't want to listen to me! I tried everything but in vain and in the end, I could do nothing but pin him against the wall to make him listen!"

"The guy was Amano, right?" Hitomi asked with a smile and Allen nodded.

"Yep, the one and only," he replied.

"That sounds just like him," Hitomi giggled and watched Allen's profile. He was quite handsome. Blushing at the thought, she quickly turned away. "He's a perfect match for Yukari. The two of them are just made for each other!"

"Oh yeah, I see!" Allen replied and pointed at the couple, Yukari smacking Amano over the head right then.

"I'm used to that," the green-eyed girl waved a hand and then tilted her head to the side. "I still don't know what to do after school. Why did you want to study journalism?"

Seeing his eyes sadden at once, Hitomi wondered what could be the reason for this sudden change of mood. Biting her lip, she watched Allen's features harden. He remained silent and the noises around her were suddenly incredibly loud. The people seemed to shout at each other and the laughter was echoing in her mind. 

"My father," Allen finally said and Hitomi winced at the sound of his voice. "My father was a journalist and kind of an idol for me and after he died I promised myself to become a journalist like him."

"I'm sorry," Hitomi whispered, whishing she had never asked. Why was she in the terrible habit of always putting her foot in it?

"You don't have to be," Allen replied sadly. "It happened fourteen years ago and it isn't your fault."

Hitomi said nothing. She hated awkward situations like these when you didn't know what to say! She was totally untalented in such things, always saying something wrong. But luckily, Yukari rescued her.

"No, they already started to play!" she shouted and tugged madly at Amano's arm. "Hurry up! Hurry up!"

They had finally reached the stairs which were leading up to the open-air stage and the music was incredibly loud. Hitomi and Allen joined their friends and together they fought their way up the stairs to the meadow in front of the stage. Hundreds of people were doing the same and a few were coming down. It was one big bunch of people, causing an unbelievable heat. Their voices were drowned by the blaring music from the stage and it smelled of smoke from the pyrotechnics. Hitomi could already feel her innards vibrate with the sound and she liked it a lot. Her green eyes were focused on Merle's back in front of her, not wanting to get lost. She was pushed from side to side between all the people, while she tried her best not to stumble over some litter. 

Some guy suddenly hit her hard on the arm, making her flinch and let go of the teddy. With a gasp, she watched the brown soft toy fall to the ground and disappear between the legs of the people who were behind her. Without thinking, she turned around and tried to follow the teddy down the steps, surrounded by hundreds of people and loud music. She heard the screams from the crowd before the stage and suddenly spotted her prize. She elbowed a girl out of her way, earning an annoyed look and hastily bend down to pick up the teddy before the next boot could step on it.

Straightening happily, she let the crowd push her up the steps while she was brushing the dirt off the poor bear. There was the dark imprint of a boot on its back and the girl tried desperately to clean it. She nearly fell when she reached to top of the stairs, expecting another step. Sighing, she looked up and froze. In the distance, she could see the stage which was illuminated by green and red lights, smoke drifting into the nightsky. In front of it were innumerable people. Innumerable unknown people. It was a moving mass, some raised arms sticking out every now and then. Hitomi looked feverishly around but it was quite impossible to make out a red head in that darkness.

Great. She had just gotten lost. People were pushing her from behind and forced her to walk ahead. And what now? She had lost her friends and was all alone. She sighed. Sit down and wait was a bad idea and calling their names was quite useless for she had even problems in understanding her own thoughts. But maybe there was the minute chance that she would find them in the crowd. She saw herself already lying in some hospital, totally bruised but it was worth a try. Taking a deep breath and pressing the teddy tightly against her chest, she pushed past the first guy who stood in her way.

She felt like a sardine in a tin. Before, behind and beside her were people, jumping and screaming with the music and she didn't know any of them. But even worse, she couldn't see the stage! Everytime she found a hole between the heads in front of her, some 2-meter-guy blocked it again. It was frustrating! After minutes of pushing and shoving and stepping on various feet, she had finally fought her way into the middle of the crowd but without getting even a glimpse of Yukari or Merle. Looking to the side, Hitomi spotted another hole in the crowd and wriggled hastily past the woman beside her. It was when someone grabbed her arm. 

Her heartbeat increased at once and she tried to break free but she only made the grip tighten around her wrist. 

"Let go of me!" she yelled over the noise and turned around, meeting sparkling reddish brown eyes. "Van!"

"Gotten lost?" he screamed, letting go of her and she suddenly wished that he wouldn't have.

"Yeah," she replied, nodding. "Where are the others?"

The raven-haired boy just shrugged. "I don't know. I lost them at the top of the stairs," and with an uneasy smile he added, "And I also lost Vargas."

The music died down when the song ended and Hitomi felt like sitting in a heap of cotton, the noises around her sounding muffled. She was going to be deaf after that.

"I'm glad I found you," she said and Van smiled down at her. 

Hearing a member of the band speak with the crowd, Hitomi turned around and groaned. Why were these huge guys always standing in front of her? If they were so tall, they could stand at the end of the crowd where they wouldn't block the sight of anyone but no, they had to stand in front of her! She stepped from side to side and tried to look over the guy's shoulder but he jumped up and down, making her glare daggers at him.

"Do you see anything?" Van asked from beside her and she shook her head.

"No," Hitomi replied, grumbling. Maybe, if she stared long enough, she could glare a hole through him!

"Let me take this," Van made her snap out of her thoughts and reached for the teddy, Hitomi automatically letting go of the soft toy.

"What...?" she started to ask but trailed of when Van went to his knees beside her.

"I'll carry you on my shoulders," he offered, making her blush.

"B-but..." Hitomi began but he interupted her.

"Do you want to see the band or not?"

"See them, of course!" she replied and gulped.

Slowly, she walked around him and straddled his neck, her cheeks on fire. She dug her fingers in his hair when he moved and slowly rose to his feet. She swayed a bit but soon found her balance, her heart beating like mad when she felt his warm hands holding her legs and her hands in his silky raven-black locks. It tickled between her fingers. 

"Everything alright?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yes, thank you."

The music grew louder, indicating that the band was just about to continue after the little small-talk with the audience. Hitomi had a breath-taking view on the stage over hundreds of heads. Trees surrounded this place, glowing in the colour of the lights which were illuminating the stage.

_No sleep  
No sleep until I'm done with finding the answer  
Won't stop  
Won't stop before I find the cure for this cancer_

Van grinned when he felt Hitomi shift on his shoulders with the music. His heart was beating violantly within his chest, feeling her fingers in his hair and her weight on his shoulders. He liked the rhythm of this song and the people around him did too. They were jumping and singing and screaming. Never had he seen so many people at the same place. And he had thought the streets of the city were crowded! He just hoped Vargas wouldn't rent a helicopter to search him. The poor man was probably just about to get an heart-attack. 

_Sometimes I feel like going down, I'm so disconnected  
Somehow I know that I am haunted to be wanted_

Van blinked, staring at the guy who sang on the stage. 

_I've been watching, I've been waiting  
In the shadows for my time  
I've been searching, I've been living  
For tomorrows all my life_

Van felt as if the guy was speaking to him, the surroundings slowly vanishing. And suddenly, he realized what would happen when Vargas found him. Not only that the giant would probably burst because of anger but he would also bring him back to the lab and never allow him to leave it again. They would put him in a prison made of glass and do their stupid tests on him. 

_In the shadows  
In the shadows_

Yeah, he had lived in the shadows. In a room, thirteen floors under the surface of the earth, hidden from the entire world.

_They say that I must learn to kill before I can feel save_

_But I, I'd rather kill myself than turn into their slave _

And he would return there. Soon. Would return into the shadows and watch the world through a sheet of glass again; if it was a computer or tv screen making no difference.

_Sometimes I feel that I should go and play with the thunder  
Somehow I just don't wanna stay and wait for a wonder_

But only if Vargas found him. Van's auburn eyes widened. What if not? What if he didn't search for Vargas to return with him? What if he just turned around and left this place? It was a unique opportunity and it wouldn't present itself again! He would never have this possibility again, the possibility to change something! Van moved his shoulders, feeling a prickling sensation in his back.

"Hey Van!" Hitomi shouted from above, interupting his thoughts. "Don't you just love this song?" 

_I've been watching, I've been waiting  
In the shadows for my time  
I've been searching, I've been living  
For tomorrows all my life_

She was leaning forward and tried to look him in the eyes, a big grin on her face. Her hair was hanging down like a veil in front of his eyes. 

"Yeah!" Van replied and smiled.

But maybe, he just should enjoy this a little bit longer. He had never met someone like her before and he never had had so much fun before. They were treatening him like a normal human being, like one of them and not like a fragile crystal which would break, by the moment you touched it. For the first time, he knew what living was. He knew what breathing, feeling and seeing was. Not only white walls and meticulously steril air but innumerable scents and colours. Taking a deep breath, Van banned these thoughts from his mind and let he music take him away. Just a little bit longer.

After two encores, the band finally left, a storm of applause and screams accompanying them. Slowly, the people began to leave the meadow in front of the stage and headed for other places of entertainment. Van shook his head, trying to chase this numb feeling in his ears away. His stereo was nothing compared to this. Vargas always complained about him hearing music so loud but maybe now, he thought it wasn't so loud after all. Feeling someone ruffling his hair, he looked up and met smiling emerald eyes.

"We should search the others," Hitomi said, looking down at him. 

"Can you see them from up there?" Van replied and her head snapped up.

Squinting her eyes, Hitomi scanned her surroundings. Brown-haired people, black-haired people, red-haired people but no Yukari. 

"Yukari! Merle!" she screamed over the heads of the people around her but it was useless.

"I can't see them," Hitomi said and shrugged. "They're probably waiting at the entrance of the park where we met earlier."

"Well then, let's go," Van replied and kneeled down, making Hitomi tighten the grip on his hair. 

When her feet touched the ground, he slipped from between her legs and straightened, a light blush on his cheeks. Hitomi stretched out her arms and with a smile, he handed her the teddy. Their fingers touched only for a brief moment but it was enough to make a warm,tingling feeling spread through her, making her heart beat faster.

"It looks a bit dirty," Van stated, eyeing the footprint on the bear's back.

"Yeah, some guy stepped on my poor bear when I lost it," Hitomi replied and hugged the soft toy, her cheeks light-red. "That's why I got lost. But we should go now."

The black-haired youth nodded and together they followed the crowd down the stairs. The sound of hundreds of conversations and the scent of sweets surrounded them again together with an uncomfortable silence, walking between the innumerable stands. It was now completely dark, the coloured lights of the stands illuminating their path and the foliage above them. Hitomi's mind was working hard, trying desperately to find a topic to start a conversation while she turned her pendant absently between the fingers of her left hand. Nothing was worse than having nothing to speak about.   

She glanced at Van out of the corner of her eyes. His pitch-black hair was reflecting the red light of the "Every ticket a price" – lottery stand, they were walking past and his unique auburn eyes inspected everything curiously. His gaze was restlessly jumping over the various stands, absorbing his surroundings. Hitomi had already noticed that Van was extremely curious. He was like a little boy who was at a fair for the first time and had never seen anything like this before. His eyes were never still and he was always looking around, as if he could miss a little detail. She liked that. Often, the people were just running through their lives with closed eyes, ignoring what was happening around them.

"What's that?" Van asked, startling her out of her thoughts.

His head was curiously tilted to the side, just like the first time when they had met, his black strands falling into his face.

"Oh, this?" Hitomi replied, looking down at the tear-shaped pendant between her fingers. "It's my lucky charm. My grandmother gave it to me." 

It was silent again and Hitomi blushed, Van still inspecting the gem with these incredible eyes of him.

"And did you visit the park after you left the restaurant?" she finally asked, tightening the grip around her teddy and directing her eyes to the ground again.

"Mmh," Van nodded, arms linked behind his head and watched a little boy tugging at his mother's skirt, begging for ice cream.

"You know, Yukari made wild speculations about who you might be and such, after you left," Hitomi said with a smile and watched a stone roll over the ground which she had kicked with her foot, trying desperately to distract herself so that she wouldn't stare at him.

"Yeah, I already noticed that," Van replied and looked at her out of the corner of his eye, watched her stare at the ground, watched her short, honey-blond hair sway back and forth with every step she took. "And what does she think I am?"

"Well, she's convinced that you're a prince of a country from far far away with lush fields and..." Hitomi trailed of and turned to face Van, hearing him laugh out loud. It was a hearty and free laugh which made the warm, tingling feeling spread through her entire body again. She smiled.

"I like that!" he stated, still chuckling and then looked at her, his eyes sparkling curiously. "Yukari already asked me about that but you didn't. Why not?"

The green eyed girl blushed furiously and hastily turned away when she noticed that she was still looking at him. "I thought it would be impolite to ask you," she answered quietly. "At least, I wouldn't like it if people asked me such questions. And if you wanted me to know about it, you would tell me, right?"

He smiled down at her but Hitomi didn't notice because she was too absorbed in watching her shoes. "Do you like the park?" she then asked, changing the subject.

"Of course!" he replied enthusiastically. "I love it here. It smells so clean and fresh, well not now but when I was here two days ago, and there was this one scent I liked the most but couldn't identify. I asked Vargas but he said that everything he smelled were the hot dogs which were sold right beside us."

Hitomi giggled and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "And what did you do, the whole time?"

Well, talking with him wasn't that bad after all. She had thought she would just talk nonsense, like she always did, but their conversation had actually some content! It was surprisingly easy to talk with him; of course only then, when he wasn't looking or smiling at her or ran a hand through his unruly hair, making her forget what she had wanted to say. His eyes were still fascinating her, pulling her in some endless reddish-brown depth everytime she looked at them.

"Well, after Vargas got his hot dog, of course," Van answered and she giggled again. "I did nothing at all. You probably think it was a waste of time but I just sat at that huge fountain in the center of the park and watched the people walking by." 

Her heart skipped a beat. "I don't think that it is a waste of time," she whispered.

"Really?" he asked, surprised and she nodded.

Hitomi took a deep breath before she continued. "Yeah, I like to..." she trailed off, confused, when Van suddenly stopped and sniffed the air like a dog.

She couldn't hide the amused grin, seeing him like that; eyes closed, head held high and the sides of his nose flattering with his sniffing.

"Do you smell that?" he asked without looking at her.

Giggling, Hitomi closed her eyes and mimicked Van's actions. "Hmm, do you mean the sugared almonds?"

"No no no," Van shook his head and with a gasp, Hitomi opened her eyes when he grasped her hand. "I mean the hamburgers! It's over there!"

Hitomi tried to protest but Van simply dragged her through the crowd and past the stands. She jiggled people continuously and even brushed a blue basecap off a little boy's head who started to cry immediately. She tried to apologize but the crowd swallowed the boy, before she had the chance to. Slightly angry, Hitomi turned around to yell at Van and collided with his back.

"Ouch!" she rubbed her nose and looked past him.

A few meters ahead, she spotted a stand where hamburgers were being sold. A tall man with a dirty apron around his waist was busily grilling the meat while a fragile looking woman took the orders. White smoke was drifting all over the place and the scent of mustard and ketchup filled her nostrils. 

"What's wrong?" Hitomi asked, walking around Van and seeing the hesitant look in his eyes. "Don't you want to buy a hamburger?"

"Yeah," he replied and smiled, not looking at her. "But maybe it isn't such a good idea after all."

"Why's that?" Hitomi asked, raising a brow. "You dragged me across the whole place like a starving man whose life depends on getting a hamburger and I made this poor boy cry and now you say that you don't want one?"

"Well, the problem is..." Van trailed off, reaching into the pockets of his pants and pulled their insides out. Hitomi could see the moths flying out of his pockets. Empty.

"No money?" she asked, an amused grin plastered across her face.

"Vargas has the money and as you already know, I lost him," Van admitted sheepishly.

"If that's the only problem," Hitomi took a few steps ahead. "Let me pay."

"What? No!" Van said quickly. "I-I mean no...I can't accept that...I mean I wouldn't feel good!"

"Van!" the emerald eyed girl replied. "It's just a hamburger and not a prohibitive car I'll pay for you! Plus you won the teddy for me and I can finally thank you."

Van opened his mouth to complain but Hitomi had already turned around and was heading for the stand. Sighing, he stuffed the insides of his pockets back where they belonged and followed her.

Five minutes later, they were sitting on a bench a bit aside of all the trouble, Van munching happily his burger. 

"I still can't believe you did that!" Hitomi said and Van rolled his eyes. "What if someone touchs it?"

"It is just a chewing gum!" Van replied, still munching. He had done nothing but getting rid of his chewing gum by sticking it under the bench.

"Yeah, but someone can touch it!" she stated angrily.

Van swallowed and then gave a laugh. "Man Hitomi, you should see the tables in the-" he broke up, coughing violantly.

Concerned, Hitomi turned to look at him. His face was red and he was punching his chest with his fist.

"Everything alright?" Hitomi asked and watched him straighten.

Van nodded. "Yeah, just inhaled a crumb," he explained hoarsly and with that he stuffed the rest of the burger in his mouth.

He had only just escaped a middle catastrophe. He had to be careful not to tell her anything about who he truly was and where he came from. There would only be annoying questions and that was all he needed right now! But then again, he somehow wished that he could tell her. He didn't know why but he wanted her to know about him. Looking into her bright green eyes, he felt feelings of guilt nagging in the back of his mind for not telling her. But he didn't even know her! What was wrong with him? He ran a hand desperately through his hair and then blinked, noticing that he was being watched. Slowly, he turned around and found Hitomi staring at him.

"What?" he asked, making her jerk and hastily turn away, her cheeks bright red. He smiled.

"Well...er...I wanted..." Hitomi stammered, trying to rip the right ear off of her poor teddy. Why did she always have to look at him? There were dozens of other people she could stare at but no, it had to be him! "Can I ask you a question?"

Van's eyes flickered briefly. "Of course," he said slowly, hoping it wasn't anything which would cause trouble.

"Well," Hitomi started and looked up. "Umm...your eyes. I've never seen such eyes before. Why do they have this colour?"

Van sighed mentally. Only his eyes. "It's a gene defect," he explained. "Actually, I have brown eyes but there are some pigments missing in my iris. That means the red colour you see..." he leaned down to look her directly in the eye, their noses almost touching. 

Hitomi's breath was caught in her throat and she felt the heat rush into her cheeks, her heart beating like there was no tomorrow. She wanted to turn away, wanted to look at the ground or everywhere else but into his eyes which seemed to see right into her soul, but she couldn't. It was as if the time had stopped and there was nothing left apart from him and his boundless auburn orbs.  

"The red colour is the inside of my eyeball," Van finished with a grin and Hitomi pulled a face.

"Ugh, that's disgusting!" she replied and backed away. "I thought your eyes were mystic or something like that!" She shuddered.

"You asked me!" Van defended himself, chuckling.

"I didn't want to know it _that_ detailed!" Hitomi said and smacked his arm. "Now, I'll always think of eyeballs when I look at you!"

Van laughed loudly and leaned against the back of the bench, looking up into the sky. He couldn't stop the gasp from passing his lips.

"Holy cow!" he uttered, frozen in the spot.

"What? What?" Hitomi asked eagerly and looked into the sky as well. "What's there?"

It seemed as if a black velvet cloth spanned them and though there were so many lights around them, the stars twinkled like diamonds on it. Hitomi looked at Van again, his mouth half open and his eyes wide in awe. Like a little boy.

"It's beautiful," he whispered and Hitomi smiled.

"Yeah," she replied. "But you seem as if you've never seen them before. There are nights when the sky is much clearer than it is now and when there aren't so many lights, you can hardly find a black spot. So white is it."

Van didn't reply. He just stared into the sky as if nothing else existed on this entire planet, just stared at the beauty which was twinkling down at him. Never had he seen them in real. They were so far away and yet it seemed as if he could just stretch out his hands and pick the stars from the sky. And right then, he was just one of thousands, watching the stars at that very moment, admiring their beauty and feeling this deep humility.

"We should search the others," Hitomi said quietly. "And Vargas. Van?"

He blinked and turned to look at her. "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

Hitomi smiled and taking her teddy, she rose from the bench. "Let's go find the others."

Van nodded and also left his sitting position. They walked through the park in silence, happily chatting people surrounding the two of them. Laughter could be heard and the music from the different stages got fainter the more closer they came to the entrance of the park. Van was looking into the sky the whole time, Hitomi watching him every now and then. She didn't say anything. This moment seemed to be precious for him, something he didn't see quite often and she didn't want to disturb his peace.

There weren't any stands around them anymore, only the light of the street lamps illuminating the way. Insects were flying restlessly around them, glowing like little stars. A faint smile crossed Hitom's lips when she spotted Yukari, Merle and Vargas standing in the light of a lamp at the entrance of the park. The two girls were talking loudly with Vargas, trying to explain something while they waved desperately with their arms about. They were so absorbed in their conversation that they didn't notice Van and Hitomi approaching until they were only a few meters away.

"Hitomi!" Yukari shrieked and ran towards them, Vargas and Merle following them. "Where have you been?"

"We were at the stage," Hitomi replied. "The concert was so great! Did you also see it?"

Yukari's brows went together in anger and she clenched her fists. "No!" she yelled and Hitomi flinched. "I didn't see it cause I was searching the whole goddamn park for you two! And Amano and Allen are still searching you!"

"Calm down, Yukari!" Merle said and placed a hand on the panting redhead's shoulder. "They're now here."

"Van?" Vargas' deep voice made the raven-haired youth turn away from the nightsky. "Where you with Ms. Kanzaki?"

Van nodded and Vargas released the breath, he had been holding for so long. Van knew that the man had worried quite much. His worst fear had been that something could happen to Van. The young man knew that his trips into the real world would now come to an end. Vargas wouldn't allow him to ever go out again. Van had had his opportunity - a unique one – and he had let it slip through his fingers. He was such a damn coward. Why did he come back? He just hoped Vargas would take that fact into account; not that he was a coward but that he had returned though he had had the possibility to just turn around and leave.

"Well then," Vargas continued, his fists shaking and took a deep breath. Van knew Vargas was restraining himself to not burst in front of them and he also knew that it was quite difficult for the tall man. "We should return home now."

The young man looked over Vargas' shoulder at the street which was winding its way past the park. Yellow and red lights rushed along it, the noises of the engines filling the air. 

"Of course, Vargas," Van said quietly and turned to look at Hitomi. "Goodbye, Hitomi. Thank you for the wonderful evening, I enjoyed myself a lot."

"Anytime, Van," Hitomi replied, confused, hugging her teddy tightly. What was wrong with him? 

"Merle," he adressed the pink-haired girl, standing right beside Hitomi. "Thanks for inviting me. And Yukari..." he seemed to think. "Thank you. Goodbye."

The three of them watched in disbelief Van turn around and walk off, Vargas following him after nodding briefly at them. 

"V-Van, wait!" Hitomi called, taking a step ahead and he stopped. "W-will...will I see you again?"

Slowly, he turned around and she felt herself blush violantly. She couldn't believe she had said that! But seeing him leave just like that, she hadn't been able to stop the words from flowing. Their gazes locked and she saw that his eyes were unbelievably tired. A light breeze ruffled his pitch-black hair while he was looking at her, a sad smile forming on his lips.

"Goodbye, Hitomi," he said again and left her behind, dumbfounded.

The wind tugged at his shirt when they walked out of the park, his hands in the pockets of his black pants once again and his eyes downcast, knowing that she was still standing there and watching him. What had he been supposed to say? That they would meet again? Why? Why should he raise her hopes when he knew that he would never leave the lab again? And he wouldn't, that was for sure. Not on any account, Vargas would allow it. The young man looked up and watched the cars rush by. The smooth paint sparkled in the night, reflecting the light of the street lamps and windows of the innumerable skyscrapers which were hemming the street.

A lot of people were still on the streets, on their way to the party or on their way home or just enjoying the warm night. In the corner of his eye, he saw the green neon light of a bar flicker and somewhere in the distance an ambulance wailed, making a dog bark. He watched a torn newspaper swirl over the ground with the wind until it was lifted into the air and vanished into the darkness of the star-sprinkled sky. So damn unfair.

Van blinked when he spotted two familiar faces ahead. Amano and Allen were walking towards him, running the last meters until they reached him. 

"Van!" Amano panted. "We searched you and Hitomi everywhere! We were even searching along the street! Where have you been?"

"I was at the concert with Hitomi," Van replied, not even bothering to stop. "She's waiting for you at the entrance with Merle and Yukari. I must go now but it was nice to meet you. Bye."

"Bye," Amano said slowly, waving his hand and watched Van and Vargas walk off. "What was that?" 

"Vargas Maradha," Allen uttered, his deep-blue eyes wide in pure shock.  

_I've been waiting.   _

~´´``~

Thanks to:

**TennyoAngel711: **Hiyaaaaaaa!!!! *blushs* I'm so happy you like it!!!! But it's so true that we hurt the ones we love!! But I'll try to hurt him not so much again :P *hugs Van* Thanks so much for reviewing!!!!

**Kayo: ***pats your back* Poor you! But I know this writing-a-veeeery-long-review-and-then-having-it-deleted-thing!!! Sooo annoying!!!!! And hehe, I'm not hiding anything...^_^ Lol!!! *knuddel* means *hugs* ^_~ "knuddeln" is a form of hugging someone!!! I hope I could help you :P and thanks so much for the review!!!!!!

**ShiAne: ***scratchs her head* Yeah, I know this abnormality problem and I really tried to find another word but well, you see, I failed u_u But when you have any idea what I can use instead of that word, I would be really grateful!!!!! Thanks for telling me and I hope this chapter was okay!!

**Yami Kanis: ***blushs* You liked it!!! And yes yes yes, his wings!!!!! *sighs dreamily* If you know where I can get some, please tell me ^_^ And I'm so glad you don't mind that it's so long!!! Thankiez!!!!!!

**Ryuu Angel: **Heyyyyyyyyyyyyy youuuuuuuuuuuu!!!! *grins like an idiot and then blushs* Glad you liked it!!!! And look, one of the few reviews which weren't cut!!! I do feel honoured :P Yup, I know this when you aren't able to utter a single sentence with CONTENT in front of a cute guy u_u Sooooo embaressing!!! But yeah, learned to live with it T______T *knocks Ryuu almost to the ground by hugging her* THANKS SO MUCH GIRL!!!! YES YES YES, you truly were a help!!! I would have forgotten a lot if you hadn't reminded me of some things!!!! So, it's mostly your fault that the chapter is sooo long :P *hugs you again* And you *points threateningly at Ryuu* update too, understood?! 

**Esca-lover: **I'm glad you liked it ^_________^ And er...umm...I don't want to sound rude but *shakes you like mad* Please update your stories!!!!! They're so great and I love them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**SabineballZ: ***von Ohr zu Ohr grins* Yep, er durfte raus ^_^ Und guck, ich hab ihn schon wieder rausgelassen!!! Ich bin heut obernett ^________^ Hoffe du bist zufrieden :P Dankefein, hab mich wie immer riesig gefreut!!!!!!!!

**Silver Magiccraft: ***blushs* Thankiez!!!!!!!!! ^_^ I'm so happy that you like long chapters!!!! And here you have another loooooooong one!!! Hope you didn't starve because of the late dinner!!!!!! ^_~

**DragonTamer9741: **Nah, open doors into people is fun!!! ^_^ You get to know a lot of people that way :P And hey, you liked it!!! Thanks!!!!!!!!

**snow blossoms: ***blushs* Thank you!!!!! ^_^ And hey, I hope I could answer your question for the time being ^_^ And for the stuck-in-a-facility-for-the-rest-of-his-life-thing... ^_^ Just keep on reading!!!!!!!

**Sakura Scout: ***blushs crimson* Thankiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeez!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**Paige Moonsword: **Nah, the late review isn't bad!!! ^_________^ I forgive you :P jk *blushs* You liked it!!!!! And yeah, the prince bit!!! ^_^ I just thought about how I could add this 'lil parallel to the series and that was what came to my mind!!! I'm glad you liked it!!! Thanx!!!!!!!!!

**Mizuki Ashiya: ***blushs* Thank you!!!! And here is more!! I hope you didn't die because of boredom :P

**Infinitis: **^___^ Glad you liked it!! And yup, Dilly's gonna be inside this!!! ^_~ Thanks!!!!

**Evalaina: **^________^ Thank you!!!!

**Queen of Hearts747: **LOL, here is more!!!!! ^_^

**Anime Monkey: **Oh, vacation!!! Hope you had fun and enjoyed yourself!!! And here you have the next meeting ^_^ For the answer of the other question, you just have to wait ^_^ 

**Scorched Shadow: ***blushs* Thanks!!!!!

...I hope I didn't forget anyone...

**AN:** Ack, it is sooooooooo long!!!!! *scratchs head* I don't know why that always happens and I hope that I didn't bore you!!! Nothing really spectacular happened! I mean no real development between Van and Hitomi and even Allen was just an extra! *tears hair in despair* I promise next time will happen a bit more ^_^ At least, I hope so!!!!!! 

By the way, the song isn't mine ^_^ It's "In the shadows" by The Rasmus!!! 

Till next chapter,

Dariel


	6. Subject 0175

Hiya, everyone!! Took me a while, I know and I'm sorry! But I'm drowning in homeworks!! Yes, poor me! ^_^ But for I finished one of my stories some weeks ago, I think the next update for this one won't take that long!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Escaflowne!

CHAPTER  6  Subject 0175

A small brass-bound bell rang when a heavy wooden door was opened and the high clear singing could be heard everywhere in the small grocery store. An old man limped out of a small chamber which was filled to the ceiling with boxes at the other end of the store and his wrinkled lips turned into a warm smile when he spotted the young woman who had just entered. She ran a hand through her ash-blond locks which feel into her face, trying to get them out of her view while her bright blue eyes were scanning the shop attentively. A light summer dress was molding against her fragile frame and she was holding a light-brown basket in her left hand. She looked like the summer in person and brought light into the dim store.

"Hello, Celena," the store owner said and smiled at his young customer, twirling his stick between his wrinkled fingers. 

"Hello, Mr. Honda," the young woman replied and smiled back at him, her eyes sparkling. "I just want to buy something for lunch."

"Of course, child," the old man said and limped to the till. "Take every time you need."

Taking a deep breath, Celena nodded and turned around in order to disappear between the stands of fruits and different vegetables. The fresh scent of oranges and apples filled the store and she strolled between the shelves, humming a melody to herself. Her delicate fingers rushed over the price-tags while she was thinking about what to cook, conversations floating into the store from outside. It was late morning and she had just noticed that her refrigerator was almost completely empty, only some poor yoghurts left which had reached their expiry date a long time ago. She had decided to go shopping in her favorite store, a few minutes down the street from her appartement.

She finally decided for a bunch of fruits, containing bananas and oranges and for noodles. Right now, she wasn't really imaginative and she could easily cook a meal with noodles which though would taste good. Still humming, she walked to the till and put her basket on the table, overlooking the headlines of various newspapers while the old Mr. Honda opened the cashbox which was a leftover from long-forgotten times. It sprang open with a loud metal sound and the drawer with the money rattled miserably, signaling that its time had come. Celena's gaze rested on a headline, the thick black letters saying _Lawyer found dead in his office._ She sighed and brushed a silver strand of hair out of her face.

"And yet another murder," she stated quietly and looked out of the window, the sunlight flooding the street and making the cars on it sparkle.

"Hmm," the old man sighed, scanning through Celena's full basket. "It makes you wonder why they do it."

"Oh, probably the murderer didn't like the lawyer's face," the young woman replied dryly. "Or he wasn't satisfied with his work, something like that. Trifles when you think about it."

Mr. Honda gave a short dry laugh. "That's right," he said but thought it was time to change the topic. "Besides, how's Allen?" 

"Fine!" Celena answered and turned around, her face shining and her eyes smiling. "He's working really hard these days and I'm glad that Amano's taking him out. I'm afraid that he'll die in front of his computer, one day."

"It seems that you have to take more care of him than he of you, eh?" the store owner chuckled and Celena grinned.

"He would die without me, that's a fact!" the lively woman replied and began to count with her fingers. "He would forget to eat, he would forget to sleep and he would finally suffocate under a mountain of his dirty clothing! He definitely needs a girlfriend to survive! One who can bear him!"   

"That sounds just like him!" Mr. Honda laughed and shook his head. "Just like Allen!"

The silver-haired woman smiled and absently ran with her fingers over the table. "How's business doing, Mr. Honda?" she asked warmly and watched the store owner stop laughing and sigh.

"Not so good, Celena," he replied sadly. "Such a small store like my one has no chance to survive with all these malls appear out of nowhere and at every corner. But I'm too old for that anyways. I can live with it."

The young woman rummaged through her purse, after the cashbox had finally spat out the price, not without protesting loudly, of course. She fished for a bill and quickly slipped it into Mr. Honda's hand, before he could look closer at it.

"Until next time," she said and after grabbing her basket, she stormed out of the store.

The confused Mr. Honda opened his hand and could do nothing but smile. She had rounded up extremely generous. He sighed and looked out of the window. Celena was a true enrichment and he just wished there were more people like her.   

Happily smiling, mentioned woman strolled along the street, still humming the melody. She was completely unaware to the number of heads she made turn around, mostly young men who followed her with their eyes until she vanished between the hundred other people on the street. The sun twinkled through the foliage of the trees which were hemming the street and the dark asphalt was radiating an unbelievable heat, making it impossible to walk without shoes. 

She liked to walk without shoes. She liked to feel the little stones under her feet or the grass tickle between her toes when she walked across the park. Summer was a great season. 

Celena was on her way back to her appartement which she shared with her brother Allen. After the death of their father who had died in a car accident fourteen years ago, they had lived with their mother. But suddenly, she had become terribly ill and had died after months of suffering, following her husband eight years later. Since then, the siblings had been on their own. Luckily, their parents had saved some money over the years and it was enough to live from. Allen had been able to start college and study journalism and she had been able to finish high school. And in a few weeks, after the summer holidays, she would also start college.

Smiling down at a little boy who was helplessly dragged along the sidewalk by his dog, she walked up the stairs to the door. It squeaked horribly when she opened it, entering the cold floor. It smelled like lime and the plaster crumbled slowly at some spots but she liked her home. She walked past a few brown doors, the laughter of children penetrating the walls, before she walked up to the second floor. The keys clinked when she fished them out of her handbag, her shoes clicking over the wooden floor. Celena reached for the lock at her door, the key lying camly in her palm and her blue eyes widened when the door swung open by her touch.

She stood in the door frame, not breathing but her heart attempting to jump out of her ribcage and with a hollow thud, her basket fell to the ground. The floor was a mess, various folders and papers lying scattered across the carpet. Hundred different thoughts were rushing through her mind, causing a head-ache. A thief had broken into her home! They must've rummaged through the closets on their search for valuables. What did they take away? All her money was hidden in a book in Allen's huge bookshelf. What if they had found it? She had to call the police! Immediatelly! She was just about to take a step into her appartement when she suddenly heard a loud rumble and someone speaking.

Celena froze. She had forgotten one thing; What if they were still there? Pictures from the news swirled through her mind, telling of poor victims who had surprised burglars in their home and had payed a high price. She saw herself lying on the floor, her blood soaking the carpet and began to tremble. Involuntarily, her shaking hands groped for Allen's firm wooden baseball bat which could be found in the umbrella stand right beside the door. In moments like these, she wanted to hug her brother for never clearing away his stuff and just letting it remain where he had dropped it.

Her fingers closed around the wood, her grip so violant that her knuckles turned white. Slowly, she walked to the living room at the end of the small floor where the noise had come from. She passed Allen's room and then her one and cold anger washed through her when she saw that they were completely ravaged, clothes and papers covering the ground. She could already see the mess in the living room, papers still flying from the direction where the intruder was. Adrenaline was rushing through her veins, her heart beating so hard that it hurt. 

A small chest of drawers was blocking her view from the thief who was sitting on the ground, emptying a closet. She took a shaking breath and slowly raised the bat above her head, her heart beating so loud that she feared the thief could hear it. With a silent step, she had surrounded the obstacle in her way and her pupils shrunk to small dots in a fuming blue ocean.

"Allen!" she yelled and the blond-haired man who sat on the carpet turned around.

"Hey, Celena," he replied, his hair dishevelled and rings as deep as a canyon visible under his eyes. "What's the matter? Why are you holding my baseball bat? Did something happen?"

She closed her eyes and forced herself to inhale deeply and slowly in order to calm her racing heartbeat and to count to ten. In moments like these, she just wanted to chop off her brother's simple-minded head. Reaching seven, her eyes snapped open and pure rage hit Allen like a bolt from the blue.

"What the hell are you doing, Allen?" she shouted, waving the bat about and making Allen wince.

"What's wrong with you?" Allen replied warily. "I'm just searching something."

"What's wrong with me?" Celena echoed in disbelief, her voice shaking. "I tell you what's wrong with me! I'm coming home and find my door unlocked and open, the appartement looking as if a stampede went through it! I almost died because of an heart-attack when I heard you rumble cause I thought you were a burglar who would kill me if he found out that I was here! And you know what? I was just about to knock out your brains with your damn baseball bat!"

Allen looked at his heavily breathing sister, her once pale face red with anger. "C-Celena, I didn't know I would scare you that much," he stuttered and rose to his feet. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you should be," the silver-haired woman replied angrily and dropped the wooden bat. "But it's okay now, just tell me what are you searching and where have you been last night? There were days you looked better than now."

Allen laughed lightly and ran a hand through his blond hair. "You won't believe whom I met, yesterday evening!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Celena tilted her head curiously to the side, scanning over the papers which Allen had thrown across the room and stopped when her eyes spotted a black folder. She saw the old newspaper articles which had slipped out of the folder, carelessly cut out and yellowed.

**          Famous journalist and unknown young woman die in car crash**

                                              **Cause of the crash still unsolved**

**                             Father leaves two children and his wife behind**

A blurred black and white photo was underneath one of the headlines, showing a terrible smashed car wreck which was just pulled out of a gorge. Celena frowned and looked at her brother, a dangerous glow in her eyes.

"Allen, what does that mean?" she asked, pointing at the folder on the ground.

"I was searching father's diary," he replied and crossed his arms in front of his chest, directing his gaze to the ground. "I was in the editorial office the whole night, searching for information about the incident fourteen years ago but then, I remembered father's diary. Where did you put it?"

"Why do you need it?" Celena asked suspiciously. "We said it's better to --"

"Just tell me, okay?!" Allen said sharply, making his sister flinch.

Glaring at him, she walked to the bookshelf and without looking at it, she reached for a thick green encyclopaedia. A layer of dust covered it and snorting, Celena gruffly opened it, making the dust fly in every direction. To Allen's surprise, the book was hollow and in a cut hole lay an old journal which was made of leather. Celena took it out of the paper shell and handed it Allen who took it with slightly shaking hands.

"Why did you hide it?" he asked, staring at the book in his hands and slowly opened it. The clear but small handwriting of his father greeted him, as many letters as possible stuffed on every page.

"I wanted to stop your snooping," she answered quietly, her blue eyes sad. "Why do you need it?"

"Do you remember what dad had said, some days before his death?" Allen asked excitedly, flipping through pages and Celena's eyes grew wide. "He said that they were afraid, that they would leave the city and search for another hiding place --"

"Allen," Celena interupted him quietly but he continued as if he hadn't heard her.

"I thought dad was right and that they left the city, their tracks covered up. But you know what?" Allen gave a laugh, a laugh one step away from sounding crazy. "We were wrong! In all these years they never left the city! They're still here and yesterday evening, I saw one of them! I-I --"

"Allen!" Celena shouted, her voice reveberating from the walls and making Allen look up. "Stop that! You will _not_ start this again! I forbid it!"

"Celena!" Allen insisted. "You know that dad was just about to reveal something incredible!"

"We said we let it rest!" the blue-eyed woman shouted back, her fists clenched. "It'll cause only trouble!"

"The car crash wasn't an accident!" the blond-haired man yelled angrily, his voice hard. "You know it and I know it! It was --"

"You're as paranoid as father!" tears sprang to Celena's eyes. She had had enough of these fights. She was fed up with it.

"Father wasn't paranoid!" 

Allen waved his arms about and a sheet of paper slipped silently out from between the yellowed pages of the old journal, landing between all the other papers on the ground. It was an old black and white photo, showing a tall man who wore a white coat, a huge scar running over his left eye. There was a note attached to the photo, written in the hasty and rough handwriting of a man who had been in a hurry. 

_'Vargas Maradha, executive at Dornkirk Inc. and entangled in Project Gaea. What is 0175?'_

Allen's eyes were wide and Celena looked at him and then at the photo on the ground, confused.

"I was right," he whispered. 

                                                                               ~´´``~

A loud noise could be heard when at least ten Cds said goodbye to Van's desk and fell to the ground, covers springing open and silver sparkling discs rolling over the parquet. Van snorted and kept on rummaging through the pile of Cds and magazines, folders and litter on his desk, his dark brows knitted in slight anger. The computer beside him was humming quietly to itself, the screen black. A thick book slowly slid over the edge of the wooden table, joining the Cds on the ground, rumbling.

"Where are they?" the auburn-eyed youth murmured and ran a desperate hand through his pitch-black hair.

He leaned back and the chair squeaked in protest, his eyes scanning the mess on the floor. Van had wanted to devote himself to his beloved computer again but he just couldn't find his favorite computer games! He couldn't remember that he had put them somewhere else (it was a rare event that he tidied up his room and Vargas tended to celebrate it effusively)! But suddenly, his eyes widened when a thought came to his mind. The Cds on his desk jumped, clinking, when his fist collided with the table, his dark brows knitted.

"Vargas," Van snarled and knocked over his chair by rising from it too hastily.

He crossed his room with long steps, almost tripping over one of his pants and entered the white hallway which lay behind his door. Of course, Vargas had taken them! There was no other possibility. He had said that he would punish Van for rather playing computer games than doing his homeworks and it was a punishment for Van, that was for sure. Grumbling, he walked down the hallway to the elevator which was waiting patiently for him and entered. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and leaned against the wall, the well-known feeling of everything within him floating filling him. At least, he knew where to search. It wasn't the first time.

Sighing, the young man leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, remembering the two times he had left the lab. It had been great, without a doubt. A huge grin spread across his face when he remembered a certain green-eyed girl's face when he had visited her in the restaurant. It had cost quite some persuasive work to convince Vargas that it wasn't necessary to be at his side for every second of his life but it had been worth it. And right then, he could do nothing but wonder what she was doing at that very moment. Was she thinking of him? 

After the elevator had come to a halt, Van stepped into the room which was awaiting him, invisible cameras scanning him. He quickly pulled his ID card out of the pocket of his beige pants and ran the flat piece of plastic through the slit at the lock. A short hiss signaled that the door was open and the young man entered the crowded main hallway of the second floor.

He looked up and down the long hallway and noticed with a moan, the men and women in black business suits who were standing in front of a door, some meters down the hallway and chatting loudly. It were obviously the visitors, Millerna had told him about and with a second moan, he remembered that he had to do some gaper-entertaining today. He already knew that he would hate it. Only some more eyes which would stare at his wings, making him feel naked and vulnerable. A sad and terribly lost look crossed his eyes but before it could intensify, Van blinked and it was gone.

He turned away and walked in the other direction, towards Vargas' office. Busy people crossed his way, the whole floor humming like a bee-hive. He had still to think about a way to get the giant out of his office. Maybe he could tell Vargas that Millerna wanted to speak to him in her office immediately...it wouldn't even be a lie for it was really unlikely that there was a moment when Millerna did _not_ want to speak to Vargas! She had always important matters to discuss (important, of course, was relative), making Van think that she would die when her mouth was shut for more than ten seconds and making Vargas livid.  

Reaching the office after turning around some corners, Van stopped and after taking a deep breath, he knocked lightly and waited. No reply. Van let out the breath he had been holding and frowned. Normally, Vargas would bark his all too famous "Come in!", making you think that he was extremely busy and that you disturbed him in some important work. Van, of course, had never cared about that, strolling into the office and completely ignoring Vargas' angry glare. Today, it wasn't different. 

Quietly, the young man opened the door and glanced into the office, expecting to find Vargas at his desk, lost in his work and his face ghostly pale because of the light of the computer screen. But there was no Vargas, neither in front of the computer nor rummaging through his drawers. 

"That's even better," the young man grinned and was in the office with one step, letting the door remain slightly open.

Rubbing his hands, he started the search for his computer games. He knew some of Vargas' favorite hiding places for the Cds. Van opened the first drawers and reached with his hand to their very end, groping for the smooth covers and the ticking of the wall clock accompanied him. But he found nothing. The black-haired boy tried it with some other drawers where he already had found 'lost' things but it was the same with them. Nothing.

He sat back on his heals and sighed. It wasn't that Vargas would notice if Van searched for his belongings. There were things which Vargas had hidden and Van had never seen them again for the tall man had simply forgotten where he had put them.

Looking around, Van's reddish-brown eyes rested on the desk which stood directly at the wall and a light smile rushed over his handsome features. He rose from his sitting position and walked to the desk, not without glancing at the door once more. It was possible that Vargas was busy with the visitors, trying to keep them from poking their noses into rooms which shouldn't be of any interest and Van couldn't supress the chuckle, imagining Vargas' angry face. He knew it quite well and the extent of Vargas' patience which was unfortunately not much.

The computer was humming quietly, the monitor black like his one. Van kneeled down and slowly crawled under the desk to the wall. He pressed his left cheek against the cold wall and peeked into the gap between the reck of shelving which was attached to the desk and the wall. He stretched out his hand and tried to reach into the gap but it was too narrow for his fingers and he only found a scratched pencil. Running a hand through his dishevelled hair, Van thought about a way to pull the desk away from the wall when he suddenly heard a noise from the door. Terrified, his head snapped up – and collided painfully with the underside of the desk.

The young man cursed loudly and pressed both of his hands immediately against the back of his head, biting his lip and waiting for the pain to subside. But suddenly, his eyes shot open, remembering why his heart was beating so fast. Vargas would personally kill him for what he was doing right now! He turned around, panic written across his face, auburn eyes wide. 

"You?!" he shouted in disbelief when he met small brown eyes, belonging to a small man who was wearing no shoes. Moleman. "Put some bell around your neck, dammit, so that I can hear you when you approach!"

"What are you doing here?" moleman asked curiously, not in the least impressed by Van's outburst and watched the young man raise. He was used to the fact that people were yelling at him as soon as he appeared.

"Nothing," Van replied gruffly and rubbed his head which was still hurting.

"Nah, Vargas won't be all too happy when he gets to know that you were snooping about in his office," the man with the unique rodent-moustache said, wrinkling his small and pointed nose.  

"No," Van stated slowly, walking towards the man at the door and looked down at him, his eyes glowing dangerously from out of the shadows under his bangs. "Vargas won't be angry because he will never get to know about it, understood?!" 

Moleman seemed to think about Van's words for a brief moment, twirling his moustache between his short, thick fingers. "What is in it for me?" he finally replied, breaking the silence and looked up at Van's trained figure.

"The same like last time," he answered casually, a cold smile playing on his lips and moleman winced visibly, pressing his hands immediatelly over his moustache.

"D-did you hear that?" moleman stuttered hastily after clearing his throat and took two steps backwards. "I think Millerna called me! I bet she needs my help with...with some important...things!" 

Van sighed when moleman stumbled out of the office and turned around in order to continue his search. Surprised, he cocked a dark eyebrow by seeing the monitor on Vargas' desk flimmer with a pale white light and twirled the pencil between his fingers. The screen-saver must've switched off when he had hit the desk with his head. Actually, he wasn't someone who would look through work which wasn't of his business but he sure was curious. Vargas always made a secret out of his work when Van asked him...and a little look wouldn't hurt, would it? There was no reason why Vargas should ever be informed about it. 

Slowly, he walked to the computer and frowned when he finally spotted the picture on it. It were two globes, overlapping each other and each world was a reflected image of the other one, _Project Gaea_ written across them. Van sank into the chair, staring at the screen with wide eyes and pinned his chewing gum absently under the desk. He stretched out his right arm but hesitated, his hand hovering over the mouse. The young man looked at the door and then back to his hand above the mouse, the ticking of the clock unnaturally loud.

He groaned over his own cowardness and let his hand drop onto the mouse, guiding the cursor across the screen to the file which read _Project Gaea._ A short double click could be heard when Van pressed the button and at once, a small window appeared which yelled him 'enter password' frankly in the face, making him snort. He tried to open the other files on the screen but they were also protected by a password and he knew quite well that it was more than impossible for him to find it. But though, he tried. 

His fingers flew over the keyboard with an incredible speed, entering various combinations but he neither knew of how many letters the password consisted nor if there were numbers included. The black-haired youth sighed and was just about to raise when the cursor grazed the bottom of the screen and the task line appeared. A grin tugged at his lips when he saw that two documents were still open. 

After clicking on the first one, he was faced with diagramms. Lots of different curves and straight lines, diagrams and charts full with test results. Scrolling down, he found innumerable letters following each other. Dozens of 'A's, 'G's, 'C's and 'T's were lined in an irregular order, some passages stressed with another colour. He frowned, the whole picture oddly familiar. It ended with _Compare with sequence 523//Data F:\ 0175/943 _

Van scratched his head and shrugging, he opened the other file. To his surprise and delight was it a simple written text, the cursor still blinking impatiently at the end of a not finished sentence. Vargas must've been interupted in his work and it probably had been pretty important for he had totally forgotten to close the files. 

Van leaned a bit forward and scrolled to the top, the pale light of the screen reflected in his auburn eyes which were partly covered by his unruly hair. The headline read _Report 0175 under Vargas Maradha's charge_ with the date of today. Van was curious.

_"Subject acts normal, no changes in behavior or health. The changes in medication seem to have no influence. Metabolism is still instable, no changes as well. The fluctuation is above the average and can be dangerous. We will soon alter the content of the substances again and try another test."_

An enumeration of words followed which Van couldn't express without making a knot into his tongue, scientific words which were just a line of letters for him. He scrolled down, wondering about what Vargas was writing while he twirled the pencil nervously between his tanned fingers. What was this subject, he was talking about? To be honest, Van knew nothing of what was going on within these walls. He was living here for they were hiding him because of his...well, because of the little difference which made him stick out from the rest of mankind. 

Of course, he had asked but after they had turned him down every damn time, he had simply given up, accepting that he did not know about it and would never do if he didn't keep on reading. He had no alternative, had he?

_"Today, the new group of scientists arrived together with the experts of the Fassa Trading Company. They'll be introduced into the project and will have a look at the subject."_

Van shifted uncomfortably on the seat. He hadn't known why these scientists were there. He just knew that they would also 'visit' him for everyone who ever came there, would sooner or later have a look at him.

_"Five tests are planned for today. It's more than usual but the subject will manage it. Since the incident 6/28, the tests increased and the subject was able to cope with them without any problems. It seems that the sport is a good balance. I should have started with the kendo training earlier."___

Van's heart skipped a beat and his left hand closed violantly around the pencil so that his knuckles turned white, his auburn eyes fixed on the screen. Kendo training?

_"I must keep an eye on the subject because it seems to neglect the homeworks over the computer."_

Something within Van clenched painfully, making him feel as if his innards were pressed into one spot while an unbelievable nausea was washing through him. He didn't notice that his hand shook when he scrolled down again, his eyes wide and sweat covering his forehead. An unspeakable fear was holding him in a death grip, hinting at an incredible truth. 

_"I hid some Cds but I know that it's useless for the subject will search for them, a hundred percent. It proves again that there isn't such a big difference between it and normal teenagers, apart from the wings."_

With a crack that sounded like a shot in a forsaken forest, the pencil between Van's fingers broke in two, surrendering under the pressure of his thumb.

_"The subject still cannot control the wings. They appear during outbursts, probably triggered by a violant emotional reaction. A test could prove it. We want to try to lure the subject to work with the wings. It's not in the sense of the project that they remain unused for the subject is not able to concentrate enough. The information is rooted deep within its genetic information and the simulations show that it should be able to control them by will-power."_

Van's hands shook violantly, his chest rising and falling quickly and a wave of emotions flooding him. Shock. Anger. Hatred. Disappointment. He felt betrayed. Betrayed by his best friend whom he had trusted with all his heart. He knew Vargas was speaking of him. He was the subject 0175. And it hurt. It hurt so much to hear Vargas speak like that about him. 

A subject. A thing to play with. A thing without any emotions, only existing to try tests on and to satisfy the play instinct of some damn scientists. Van was only a number for him, a line of genes, an expensive porcelain doll which had to be put behind glass. He closed his eyes and took a deep but shaky breath, a tear of pure rage running down his cheek.

This wasn't happening. He was dreaming. A nightmare. Soon his alarm-clock would ring and wake him up, making him want to smash the scrap heap only to have the annoying noise stop – needless to say that Van had had a lot of alarm-clocks over the years. He waited, trying to calm his furious breaths while he listened to his own strong and fast heartbeats. And for the first time, he wished to hear his alarm-clock, wished everything to stop, wished that he had never come here. But there was no ringing, nothing to wake him up. Slowly, he opened his eyes again only to be greeted by Vargas' report, the screen seeming to laugh at him. He stared at it for a long time until he finally moved. 

Van closed the file and opened the other one again, the line of letters greeting him. Now, he knew why this had seemed so familiar to him; he knew it from his biology classes. It was a part of a genetic code. His genetic code. Van was sure the letters encoded a genetic information, a proteine, his eye colour, dammit even if there was a risk to get cancer. 

He felt so unbelievably helpless and naked as if he was lying on one of the examination tables he hated so much. This was him. These letters were what made him what he was; his height, his physique, his hair colour and in some ways even his personality. And they were dealing with it like they would deal with a heap of papers, impersonal and unfeeling, not interested in him as a human being but in him as an immoral experiment. 

The charts were titled with the name or better to say the number, the scientists had given him. It were possibly the results of Millerna's tests. His eyes scanned over the diagrams when a text under one of them suddenly caught his attention, written in glowing red letters. 

**Measurements need to be checked again! Impossible results! Speed of healing process above average! No hints in genetical basics! Compare with genome of parents C:\genome_basics\parents**

Van frowned slightly, guiding the cursor onto the underlined words. It was a link and he hesitated briefly before he clicked it. He only knew his father but he had never met his mother. They had told him that she had died right after his birth. Never had he seen her face for they had never given him any photos. His father didn't speak about his mother, changing the subject whenever Van asked. He had no idea how she looked like but he supposed that he resembled her more than he resembled his father because he couldn't find any similarities with Isaac Dornkirk.

He gasped when the file finally opened, a photo right under the title _Mother._ She was beautiful, dark hair framing her delicate face. Her pale skin was a strong contrast and her bright brown eyes seemed to smile at him. Slowly, Van stretched out his hand, running with his fingers over the screen, wanting so desperately to feel her skin, her hair, her warmth. While he was staring at the photo, he could do nothing but wonder how her voice sounded. Gentle and caring, able to soothe pain.

"Varie Fanel," he read in a whisper when he finally turned his gaze away from her picture and to her name below. 

The file was stuffed with innumerable information about her. Scanning over the first lines, he got to know that his mother would have been fifty-three years old right now and that she had been born in...in Portugal! She had been Portuguese! Van's dark brows shot up in surprise. He was Portuguese! Well, at least, for a half. His auburn eyes continued to rush over the lines, greedily absorbing everything about her from a broken leg in her childhood to the flu she had had a few months before he had been born.

A sequence of her DNA completed her file and the one of his father followed right after. The young man scrolled down and it was as if someone had slapped him hard across the face, his eyes wide in utter shock when he saw the photo. A thick lump was forming in his throat, making him choke while his heart was debating whether it should keep on beating or simply stop. The seconds stretched and the deafening ticking of the wall clock slowed down while he was waiting for his next heartbeat. 

He had been wrong. He resembled his father more than his mother. Pitch-black and dishevelled hair which was able to resist every attempt of taming it was falling into his face, partly covering his brown eyes and a dark beard was hiding his chin and the sharpness of his jawline. His name was Goau Fanel. No muscle moved in Van's face when he read through his father's file and also through his brother Folken's file, his features hard and cold like stone.

For a few moments, he had forgotten what he had found out earlier. His mother had made him forget it, had fought down his anger, had soothed his pain. But right then, everything was thrown back at him with double the strength. Isaac Dornkirk wasn't his father and he even had a brother. The truth numbed him to the core. 

It was all a lie. His whole life was a goddamned lie. He wanted to hate. He wanted to hate them all for what they had done to him, for what they had kept secret from him but he couldn't. He couldn't feel anything apart from the unbearable emptiness within him.

Slowly, Van sat back in the chair, staring at the screen and hardly noticed in his daze that there was an address at the end of the file with a short remark. _Just moved_. Tearing his gaze away from the screen, he looked around and the white walls of Vargas' office seemed to come closer, the room shrinking together. A single thought was reveberating within his mind, getting louder with every second.

Get out of here!

Dropping the broken pencil onto the desk, the black-haired youth rose from the chair, his eyes dull. He crossed the room and when he opened the door, voices surrounded him again. People were talking on the hallway, busily discussing this and that and it was unnerving after the silence in the office. He hated these noises.

"Hey, Van!" someone spoke behind him, making him turn around. "Vargas isn't in his office. He's with Millerna, showing our guests around but maybe you can talk to him later."

Van looked at the woman in front of him, her blue eyes sparkling behind the glasses and a friendly smile on her lips. He hated this smile. "No, I won't," he replied flatly and turned away, walking down the hallway.

She called something after him but he didn't listen, not wanting to hear her cheerful voice. The hallway seemed endless, the elevator which would bring him to his room far away. A crowd of people was gathering around a door on his way, their excited voices filling the air. They tried to look into the room, pushing and shoving each other. Van didn't care. He didn't even look up when his name was called. He only stopped when something on the right suddenly caught his attention. 

The young man slowly turned around and looked at the door to his right. It was wide open, revealing a small office; Moleman's office. Van saw the desk at the wall on the other side of the room, a black and red backpack lying on the ground in front of it. 

The office was empty. Without thinking, he entered and headed straight to the desk, bending down and picking up the backpack. When he looked up again, he spotted an ID card on the desk with moleman grinning at him from the flat piece of plastic. He stared at it for a long time, his features hard and finally grabbed it. Without looking back, he left the office towards the elevator, still holding the backpack in a tight grip. 

He didn't know how he had reached his room but he suddenly stood in front of his door. It was as if he was watching himself opening it, not having any control over his body. He saw himself stuff different things into the backpack, ranging from two shirts to a few magazines and other things which lay scattered across his desk. And just then, he noticed that he didn't have any belongings at all, nothing that really meant something to him. He exhaled deeply and after looking around his room once more, he grabbed the two packages of chewing gum which lay between various sheets of paper on his desk and left.

The doors of the elevator closed silently and Van leaned against the wall, arms crossed in front of his chest and backpack slung over his right shoulder. Eyes closed, he began to count when the elevator started to move, not noticing that his voice was shaking.

"Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five --" he stopped and slammed his fist with all his strength onto the stop button, forcing the elevator to a halt.

The light flickered briefly and Van opened his eyes, glaring at the door. He opened it like Vargas had already done it two times though he needed a lot more time and was breathing heavily after the door finally slid open.

Well, for his first time, Van had estimated quite well; the exit was around one and a half meters above the level of the elevator.

No doubt was hindering him when he threw the backpack through the opening and followed with a pull-up. Dusting himself off, Van looked down the dark hallway. A grin played on his lips when he thought about what was awaiting him at the end. Of course, did he remember the electrical combination lock and he was pretty sure which numbers would open it. Dornkirk was obsessed and that was his weak side. The young man paused after picking up the backpack and looked up.

The lense of the black camera in the corner above the elevator sparkled lightly in the dim light. He didn't care if someone had watched him during the last minutes or if someone was watching him now. They would sooner or later notice that he was gone but it didn't matter. His eyes were cold when he glared into the camera, all the hate and abhorrence he felt right then, burning within them.

It was when the doors of the elevator slid shut, taking the last light with them and leaving Van in nothing but darkness.  

                                                                                ~´´``~

Three floors under the earth, Dryden Fassa was leaning casually at the white wall of a huge lab, tying absently a knot in his brown tie which matched the brown suit, he was wearing under a coat. His eyes were closed behind thin glasses, the young man listening to the voices around him. There was one voice above all the others, a voice he would recognize out of thousands; Millerna Sarah Aston's voice.

Slightly opening one eye, he glanced across the room and spotted Millerna among a group of scientists where he was actually also belonging to. Today, the new scientists were showed around the labs, so that they would get used to it. After the revelation that Project Gaea was a success, the sponsers had sent their teams of experts to make sure that Dornkirk had told the truth. 

An enormous amount of money was at stake. Dryden recognized an eager doctor of genetical engineering whose last publication about interchangeable genes he had read – out of boredom, of course.

Furthermore, there were scientists from the world-biggest producer of biotechnical appliances, some experts from his father's company and a lot more scientists who were sent by impossibly important and stinking rich people who wanted to know where exactly their money was flowing. Dryden narrowed his eyes, watching three men who didn't fit into the bunch of white-coated doctors who were scribbling down notes the whole time and whose lips never stopped moving. And by seeing their uniforms and disciplined behavior, he would bet his ponytail that they were sent by a military institution.

Though Dryden didn't belong to this kind of experts, his father had ordered that he took part in this. Just in the case. Well, he had been around Millerna for the whole morning, being reminded of old times whenever she had laughed, whenever she had said "You know" or had absently chewed on her pencil. He hadn't been able to do anything but stare at her. Stare at her lips, stare in her eyes, stare at her slim finger tap against her cheek. But he had seen that Millerna had felt uneasy under his intense gaze, dropping her notes more than usual and he had decided that it would be better if he kept some distance.

And there he was, leaning against the wall at the other side of the room and doing what? Staring at her. 

With a sigh, Dryden ran a hand through his brown locks and turned away. 

The lab was stuffed with tables and desks of different sizes, filled with computers and fragile looking glass constructions. Various substances and piles of sheets of paper were carried across the room, held like little babies. Permanent conversations filled the sterile air together with the noises from the machines between the computers, and quiet music played in the background, a beamer throwing a broadcasted concert at a white-washed wall. As is known, classic music increases concentration.  

He spotted a young man sitting in a small chair in front of a wall which was made of tv screens. It were at least thirty of them, some of them flimmering in strange greenish light, other ones switched off and trails of fingers visible in the thin layer of dust. People in white coats were busily working in the rooms which were observed by the cameras, rummaging through heaps of papers or sitting at their desks, eyes glued to the screen but they weren't of any interest for the man who was supposed to watch over them. His head was propped onto an elbow, the fingers of his left hand drumming impatiently on the table and his right eye twitching lightly.

Grinning, Dryden left the wall and walked to the slightly annoyed employee who was just about to take a sip from his coffe.

"Hey," Dryden greeted and the poor guy on the chair almost spilled the coffee.

He grunted and putting the mug on the table, he turned to look at Dryden whose eyes were sparkling with amusement. "Yes, sir?"

"Ah, mind if I keep you company?" Dryden replied, scratching the back of his head with a grin on his lips.

The young man whose ID card indentified him as Kevin Suzuki raised his brows in surprise, not expecting something like that. "Er...no, sir?" he answered warily and Dryden leaned against his desk. "But don't you belong to the group over there?"

The brown haired man glanced at Millerna who was explaining something at a computer and looked up right then. Their eyes locked for a brief moment and Dryden felt a warm feeling spread through him but the violet-eyed woman quickly turned away, hiding her faint blush from his sight.

"Actually," he sighed and looked at the black-haired man who was drumming with his fingers on the table again. "There were just too many numbers and diagrams for me. I needed some rest. And you're watching over the screens or what?"

The young man grinned and the frown vanished from his handsome face. "Actually," he replied and pointed at the screen-wall. "But it's pretty hard to stare at them the whole time and I just needed some rest."

"I understand," Dryden winked and then, touched one of the monitors which was flimmering in a dark greenish light, showing an empty hallway. "Where's that?"

"Oh, this is one of the nightsight-cameras," Kevin explained patiently, rocking back and forth on his chair. "They're positioned in emergency hallways somewhere around here which are leading out of the lab. There is no light for nobody is using these ways. The monitors which are switched off also belong to cameras like these."

"And why are they switched off?" the green-eyed man asked curiously, scratching his chin.

"Well, to say the truth," Kevin answered with a shrug. "The cameras are out of order and we can't repair them cause we don't know where they are!"

"What?" Dryden exclaimed, not able to hide his surprise.

Kevin sipped on his coffee. "Yep," he replied casually. "Do you know how big this thing here is? These aren't the only cameras! There are a lot more. eight floors under the earth and the lab isn't limited on the ground plan of the Dornkirk Inc. skyscraper. They didn't tell me the whole expanse of this institution, I just know my territory, but I don't want to know it either. You know, it's not healthy to know too much."

Dryden frowned. "I thought there were thirteen floors..."

"There is a thirteenth floor," the blue-eyed man said and leaned back into his chair, looking at Dryden over the brim of his mug.

"But I thought you said..."

Kevin smiled. "I said the lab consisted of eight floors," he stated. "The next four floors are plain concrete and the thirteenth floor is Van's room."

"Van?" Dryden asked, now looking directly at Kevin.

"Yeah, Van," he replied with a frown. "You know, the one who is living here, the one who is the reason why you're here, the one with wings?"

"His name is Van," Dryden mused quietly. "I didn't know that."

"Yeah," Kevin nodded and put his mug back on the desk. "I think it's because we're not allowed to use his real name when he's not around. It's quite hard for him. I mean he never saw the outside world, just this lab, and the only thing which connects him with the real life are his computer, the tv and the hamburgers," a brief grin crossed Kevin's features before he continued. "But I think it's better that way. You can't miss something you never experienced. And --"

"Kevin!" a shout suddenly interupted him.

Rolling his eyes, the young man turned around. "What's the matter, Millerna?"

Dryden would have listened to what Millerna was asking if he hadn't seen something out of the corner of his eyes which immediately caught his attention. Blinking, he turned to the monitors and frowned when he saw that one of them in the downright corner was showing nothing but yellowish light. 

Pushing his glasses up his nose, he leaned closer and his eyes suddenly widened when the light vanished, leaving the greenish light of a nightsight-camera. But this one wasn't showing an _empty_ hallway – a young man was standing there, holding a backpack in his hand and glared into the camera.

Dryden remembered his face. He had seen him a few days ago when Isaac Dornkirk had told them about his project.

"Hello, Van," he whispered with a smile on his lips and after glancing at Kevin who was still talking with Millerna, he switched off the screen. 

Tbc...

                                                                               ~´´``~

My thanks to:

**snow blossoms: **^_^ So, you liked it?? Thankiez!!!!!! And yup, I'm German...is it that obvious u_u Have a nice day too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**Dragontamer9741: ***blushs* Thanks!!!!! And sorry again for taking so long!!!

**Ryuu Angel: **Hiyaaaaaaa, girl!!!!!!!! ^_______^ I'm glad you liked all the little details!! I simply had to add them!! I thought of you when I wrote the thing with the tan, imagining the both of us complain about our cheesy skin *gives you high five* 1:0 for the pale ones!!! *suddenly bursts out laughing* You sang along?? I do it everytime I hear the song!! It's still one of my favs! And hah, Van's eyes! I often thought about a way to explain it and that's what I ended up with ^___^ We can do nothing but love him!! Oh girl, that was long!! And see, it wasn't cut!! *pats ff.net on the back* ^_________^ *hugglez you like mad* Thankiez!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**hitomi-chan:** Hi!!!! I'm so glad you liked it!! And so many questions again! But you know that I can't answer them without giving away something ^_^ You'll have to wait! *hugs you* Thanks for the long review!!! And hah, did you see the pic I drew for this story?? 

**dark faerie2: **^_^ Thank you!!

**Kayo: **Hey! Still alive?? Hope you survived reading the Scarlet letter!! ^_^ And you liked it! *claps her hands* But once again, can't answer the questions, just one thing: some of your guesses were pretty close to what I plan on doing ^_~ But ssshh!****

**dilanda: ***wipes brow* I'm glad you liked it! Thanks! ^_^ And I really tried to write as often as possible but school is horrible sometimes!!!

**Silver Magiccraft:** ^_^ YAY! You like long chappies!!! Hehe, I'll answer the questions in later chapters ^__^ Thankiez!!!

**Esca-lover:** *blushs* Thank you!!! But I think I must disappoint you...Van stays with me!!! Bwahahaha!!! And yes, please!!! Update your stories!!

**Sakura Scout:** I'm glad you liked it though ^_^ Thankiez!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**kcarrie:** *blushs like mad* Thanks!!! And of course, Van will get to see Tomi again ^_^ It's V/H after all!!!!

**Storm_warrior_91: **Thanks!!!!!!!!!! ^_^

**Anime Monkey: **Hiya!! You're still there!!! *makes a little happy dance* ^______^ Thankiez!!!

**SabineballZ: **Hey du!!! Lang nichts mehr von dir gehört/gelesen!! ^_^ Jaja, du und deine Fragen! Da kann ich nur eins zu sagen: Abwarten und Tee trinken!!! :P Danke!

**Ali:** *blushs* I'm glad you like it and thankiez!!!!!!!!!!!!! ^______________^

**Infinitis**: Lol, glad you liked it! And yep, Dilly will appear sooner or later ^_^ Thanks!!!

**KittyDuo195: **^_^ See, Van is free now! Hope you liked it!! Thx!!!!!!!

**Arkao:** Thanks!! I like fluff too ^_^

**A/N:** And yet another chapter done! ^_^ So, Van's free now...let's see what he's going to do with his new-won freedom! And hah, I got the idea of making him half-Portuguese when I read somewhere that the language which he speaks in the first episode of "Escaflowne" is old-Portuguese! Hope you liked it and till next time!!!

Dariel

P.S. I drew a pic for this story (actually two ones). If you wanna see them, look at my bio...you can find the link to the site there ^_^ It's Ryuu's site *hugs her like mad* and there are also pics from her!! So go go go and take a look around!!! ^________________^ 

AND WE HAVE A COMMON ACCOUNT!!! No, I'm not schizophrenic but Ryuu Angel and me allied!!! *hugs Ryuu and dances around* Bwahahaha!!! So, I would suggest you go and check it out, too :P It's Ryuu//Dariel and it's of course a V/H story ^________________________^ 


	7. First day of my life

Hiya!! Omg, I just noticed that I'm a member of ff.net for over one year now!!! *throws confetti* I can't believe it!!! One year passes by so fast!! *shakes head* Actually, I planned to write something for the anniversary but hah, I've been quite busy these last weeks. The end of the year is near and the teachers suddenly notice that their students need more marks!!! *grumbles* Well, maybe I manage to write it later :P Aaand, I planned to thank MTV and MTV2 for broadcasting Escaflowne here ^___________^ *falls on knees* Thank you, guys!!!

DISCLAIMER: And even after one year, I don't own anything u_u

Chapter 7   First day of my life

Hundreds of people were walking along James D. Watson Street every day, the huge Dornkirk Inc. skyscraper towering above them as a masterpiece of human architecture. Every day, hundreds of people were using the pedestrian crossing at the corner of Francis Crick Road, their voices filling the air and not knowing that the most expensive and best guarded lab between the north pole and the Antarctic was hidden, twenty-three meters under their feet.

Somewhere within this labyrinth of floors, elevator shafts and rooms which covered an area of almost hundred-thousand square meters in different levels of depth, was Vargas Maradha; slightly annoyed, claiming less than one square meter his own.

A pack of scientists was swarming around him like humming flies and he just felt the urge to get rid of them by using an oversized fly-swat. Unfortunately, nothing like that could be found in his reach and it seemed as if he would have to bear them a little longer. Millerna, the traitor, had left him alone with them and their never-ending questions and he would probably never forgive her. 

In the beginning, Vargas had tried to answer their questions, he really had, but it was just impossible to do when they were all speaking at the same time!

"Okay, enough now!" he raised his voice above the continuous murmur, silencing some of them. "I can't answer all these questions but I'm sure that Ms. Aston will be back in no time and she'll be able to give you the answers you need."

He sighed in relief when the men and women turned away and started to discuss with each other, seeing that this incompetent employee was of no use. Vargas just hoped that Millerna would return soon. 

Noticing a movement out of the corner of his eye, he glanced up and a frown appeared on his scarred face, seeing three men whisper to each other. The bunch of curious and unnerving scientists was one thing, these three men were another one. Vargas liked it when he knew who had sent people to the lab, but he didn't know who stood behind the broad backs of the men in uniform. 

For the last few hours, they hadn't uttered a single question, had just stood beside their group and inspected their surroundings with trained eyes. Every alarm bell of his experienced soldier senses was ringing in his mind by just looking at them. There was only a handful of people on this planet who were gifted with Vargas' trust and these men would never belong to them, that was for sure.  

The voices in the lab grew louder when the door was opened and a young woman with long, curly blond hair appeared, a heap of files under her left arm. When she spotted Vargas, an apologetic smile spread across her beautiful features though she couldn't hide the amused sparkle in her violet eyes. She knew how much he hated to be alone with so many curious people. Time to deliver him. 

"Vargas?" Millerna asked over the noises in the lab, forcing her way through the pack of scientists. "I can't find the disc with the results of the last tests. Do you know where it is?"

Vargas ruffled his short grey hair. "I took it from your desk when I checked the datas again," he mumbled and already headed for the door. "It's still in my office. Wait a minute."

Millerna smiled when the tall man left the lab like a little boy who escaped from an unpleasant task. He would probably never change. With a sigh, Vargas closed the door behind him, entering the white hallway which would lead him to his office.

The white tiles sparkled in the light of the lamps, the walls blinding every eye which wasn't used to it. A lot of people crossed his way, a lot of faces smiling at him and some too busy with their work to even look up. Vargas knew them all. He knew Maggie Tenno who always pushed her glasses up her nose when she was nervous and who had once again dropped the tablet with the test-tubes, spilling their contents over the ground. 

And he knew Edward. Edward "the pain in the neck" Curie. It seemed as if the young man sniffed in the air when Vargas was around, never leaving out a chance to ask him yet another question.

"Not now, Eddie," Vargas said and rose his hand in dismissal when he saw the young man storming in his direction, his mouth already opening to speak. "I've some things to settle for Millerna. Remember what you wanted to ask and tell me later."   

Without stopping and without even waiting for a reply, he walked past the young man with the intense blue eyes and disappeared around the next corner. Always the same. People came and went again, faces changing over the years but it was always the same. For over nineteen years now, Vargas was working in the position as the executive, in this lab. His lab. 

Of course, the whole institution belonged to Isaac Dornkirk who was the source of all the money which vanished in the depths of this labyrinth of hallways and rooms, containing expensive technology. It was quite obvious for his name was written in bold everywhere, reminding all the employees who was feeding them. But Dr. Dornkirk could rarely be seen in the hallways, Millerna and Vargas managing the whole lab practically on their own. And over the years, these cold white halls had somehow become his home.

A door beside him suddenly opened and something bumped into him, waking Vargas from his thoughts. 

"Moleman!" Vargas exclaimed when his gaze rested on the short man who was looking up at him through the glasses on his nose, rolling his moustache between his fingers.

"What were you doing in there?" the giant asked after glancing over moleman's bald head, seeing that he had stumbled out of the archives. Sparkling grey filing cabinets filled the room, standing calmly in rows so that only a narrow corridor was left to walk, waiting patiently for the next one to open them.

"Well, I'm searching my backpack and my ID card," moleman answered and looked down the hallway, scratching his head. 

"Again?" Vargas muttered in slight annoyance, rewarding his employee with a dark look.

"I must've put them somewhere and forgot where it was," the bare-footed man replied with a shrug and turned to Vargas again who was still glaring at him. "I suppose you haven't seen my stuff?"

"No!" Vargas barked, making moleman wince. "But I suggest you find it soon and take care that it will _never_ happen again or I'm forced to fire you!"

A look of pure offence crossed moleman's round face and mumbling to himself, he turned away and shuffled along the hallway. Vargas snorted and continued his way, a scowl on his features. If moleman wasn't the best programmer of the northern hemisphere, Vargas would have fired him a long time ago. The guy was losing things continuously; preferably, important things.

With a grunt, he pushed the door to his office open and entered. It was empty and quiet like usual, only the computer humming softly from the other side of the room. He kneeled down beside his desk and began to rummage through the drawers, on hand on the table. His fingers closed around the desk but immediately, Vargas jerked his hand back as if he had burned himself when his fingertips came in contact with a fresh-pinned chewing gum.

"Damn you, Van!" he yelled angrily and glared at his desk while cleaning his fingers at his coat. "You and your stupid behav..."

His eyes slowly widened, the words refusing to come over his lips and his mouth remained open when the information finally sunk in. If Van's goddam chewing gum was pinned under his desk, the lad must have been there. Lifting his head, he spotted the broken pencil on his files and his eyes instantly focused on his computer screen. Black. Screensaver.

Vargas nearly knocked over his chair when he reached for the mouse, switching off the screensaver. A statical crackling was audible, the computer slowly awaking from its slumber and Vargas felt his heartbeat slow down. It seemed like an eternity for him until the blackness on the screen vanished and he suddenly wished it wouldn't have, feeling as if falling into a bottomless hole.

"Oh gods, no..." he uttered in pure shock. 

With a loud thud which broke the thick silence in the office, Vargas' chair hit the ground. The grey-haired executive stormed through the hallways, his breaths coming out fast and his heart beating like mad within his chest. Sheets of paper floated through the air when he bumped into a young woman who followed him with her brown eyes, a startled expression on her face, not even getting an apologize. 

Vargas didn't notice the stares of the people he passed on his way, one horrible thought hunting him along the hallway. Seeing Van's elevator, he fumbled his ID card out of the pocket of his coat and ran it through the slit, making the door open with a hiss. When he entered the scanning room, he was too troubled to notice that the display of the elevator neither showed a _13_ nor a _2,_ indicating that the cabin was waiting somewhere between these floors.

The way down seemed endless, Vargas pacing through the cabin like a trapped big cat. Van had been in his office and he had been at his computer, no doubt. He had seen things, he wasn't supposed to see. Things which weren't meant for his eyes, things which should have been kept from him forever. And it was Vargas' fault that he had seen them.

The elevator came to a halt and Vargas pressed himself through the slowly opening doors, dashing down the white hallway to Van's room. Pushing the door open, he stumbled into the room and looked around with wide brown eyes. 

Quiet and empty. Van's bed was one big heap of clothes, as usual, and various things lay scattered across the desk and floor, as usual. Vargas stood in the doorframe, his chest rising and falling quickly with his breaths, sweat covering his forehead. A picture of moleman flashed in front of his eyes and his words reveberated through Vargas' head, the lost backpack and ID card suddenly weighing a ton in his mind. 

And he knew that he wouldn't find Van within the lab. Slowly closing his eyes and letting go the breath, he had been holding since he had left his office, Vargas stretched out his hand and pushed a light blue button beside the door. And for the first time since he was working in this institution, the alarm system awoke to its noisy life.

                                                                                                             ~´´``~

Oh yes, lunch-breaks were some great things. A young woman with amazing green eyes stretched lazily when she stepped through the front door of the _Shiroi Ryuu_ and entered the sidewalk. A lot of people walked past her, jostling her every now and then while she was grinning into the bright blue sky. It was another postcard day, the heat practically standing in the gorges between the skyscrapers.

Ruffling her short, sandy-blond hair, Hitomi forced her way through the stream of people who were on their way to their favorite restaurants in order to do what she was doing right now; enjoy their lunch-break.  

She crossed the street after a huge red truck and found herself in front of the park. The noises from between the green mixed with the noises from the street, filling the air with a colourful sonority. Hitomi joined a young couple with a baby carriage on their way into the park, little stones crunching under her shoes.

What a recovery to escape Yukari's blabbering for at least half an hour. Not that she didn't like Yukari but that girl could really be a pain in the neck. Amano this and Amano that and oh, Hitomi, did I already tell you what he gave me? Oh my, these roses smell like heaven, don't you think, Hitomi? And look at the chain! Isn't it beautiful? Amano can be so cute sometimes! 

Hitomi sighed and shook her head. Of course, Yukari didn't know that it hurt the green-eyed girl. It hurt to see Yukari all happy together with Amano, it hurt to see those glances they were exchanging and the way they were teasing each other, it even hurt to see them argue only to find them in each other's arms, ten minutes later. She really was happy for Yukari but it hurt because she never felt that way, Yukari felt for Amano. 

With a smile, the young woman noticed where her legs had led her. It was her favorite place in the entire city; the huge fountain in the center of the park. It was a dancing couple, their bodies close to each other, twirling in a storm of clothes. Pearls of water were glistening on their stony skin, the woman's hand placed gently on her lover's cheek, a blissful smile on her face. 

It was a beautiful picture, the sun producing a rainbow across the cascades of water. People were walking past the fountain, their voices almost drowned by the splashing of the water. Some were sitting on the stony brim around the fountain, chatting and laughing or just watching life walking past them. Quiet music was filling the air, coming from a man with a saxophon who was sitting under a tree, the world around him forgotten. 

It was when her forest green eyes suddenly rested on him; a young man who was lying on the brim, arms linked behind his head, his eyes closed and the sun caressing his handsome features while the fine drizzle from the fountain cooled his skin. Drops of water were sparkling in his pitch-black hair which was swaying in a soft breeze and a backpack rested at his feet. Hitomi's mouth was half open in surprise. She hadn't expected to see him there.

The young woman hesitated for a brief moment. She could remain standing there and continue to gape at him for the rest of her break. She could go over to him in order start a conversation and use her flirtation instincts which had unfortunately become stunted. Or she could simply turn around and walk away. So many possibilities. Well, the Hitomi she knew would decide for the latter one but this was also the Hitomi who would curse herself the whole day (or even longer) for not taking the opportunity to speak with him, thinking about wasted chances, according to the "What if I had...?" principle.

It wouldn't hurt if she went over to him, would it? The worst that could happen was that he didn't want her to stay for she was the most annoying person he had ever met. Well, if she thought about it, it sounded pretty worse in her ears...Hitomi groaned. She was doing it again; worrying about things which would never happen if she didn't have the guts to jump over her shadow, at last.  

It was a good day to take a run-up. She took a deep breath, determined, and closed the distance between the two of them. A smile crept upon her face when she stopped right beside him, looking down at his sleeping figure.

His features were calm and relaxed, his black eyelashes resting peacefully on his tanned cheeks and unruly strands of raven-black hair were adorably sticking in every possible direction, making her feel the urge to tame them. 

"Hey," she said softly. Bravo, Hitomi! Words to change the world forever! Someone should write a book about it!

But though her greeting was far from being something later generations would remember, Van's eyes snapped open. The bright sunlight made them sparkle an intense red and a confused and slightly startled look crossed his features when he stared right back at her.

"Hitomi?" he asked in surprise and straightened, a broad grin spreading across his face, at once.

She was close enough to see that his right canine tooth was a bit twisted, making him look incredibly boyish and she could do nothing but grin back at him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked and ruffled his hair, trying unsuccessfully to stiffle a yawn. He looked extremely tired. Not that way you look after talking with your friend all night long, getting only three hours of sleep or after spending one afternoon at the track field to train, but well...tired.

"Lunch-break," Hitomi replied with a shrug and watched him while he was looking around with sleepily narrowed eyes, a frown appearing on her forehead. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Van turned around and looked up at her, squinting against the sunlight and Hitomi felt a warm feeling spread through her. "I don't know," he answered casually, his lips turned into a lop-sided grin. "Sitting here, watching the people, being lazy, just usual things."

Hitomi pretended to think. "You mind if I join you?" she said, trying to sound nonchalantly but her heart was beating furiously within her chest, obviously intending to break through her ribcage. That traitor.

"Nah, I think I can bear your presence," the young man answered with a wink and chuckled when Hitomi nudged his arm.

"Thank you very much, Your Majesty," she replied sarcastically with a mocking glint in her emerald eyes and sat down beside him on the brim of the fountain, sighing deeply. 

Smoothing her skirt, she felt goosebumps appear on her skin when drops of water from the fountain landed on her arms. Something wasn't right about that. She remembered the last time, she had seen him. He had been totally different, all quiet and somehow cold after they had met Vargas again. And he had even refused to say that they would meet again. 

Hitomi turned around, already opening her mouth in order to ask him about it but stopped when she faced his profile. Van was resting with his elbows on his knees, turning a folded sheet of paper between his fingers and staring into the distance with that far-off look, she had already seen on him. Feeling her eyes on him, he glanced at her out of the corners of his auburn eyes.

"What?" he asked, his lips curling into small smile and the wind tugging gently at his dishevelled hair.

"No-nothing!" the green-eyed girl replied with a start, cursing herself for staring at him and feeling the heat rush into her cheeks again. Slowly, she was getting used to it. "I was just wondering...wondering why you were here all alone." And suddenly she knew. Her head snapped up and she scanned the place around them with restless eyes. "Where is Vargas?"

She didn't see Van's eyes flicker nor his features harden. It was only for a short moment but clearly visible, that angry fire which flashed briefly within his unfathomable eyes extinguished by his eyelids, a second later. 

"He isn't with me, this time," Van answered quietly, without looking at her, unconsciously tightening the grip on the brim. "I thought it was time to become a little bit independent. I don't need Vargas to guide me everywhere for I can take perfectly care of myself."

Hitomi nodded and turned back around to look at him, swaying her legs back and forth. The sun was warming her and fine drizzle from the fountain was covering her skin, the light breeze cooling it whenever crawling over her arms. She sensed that he didn't want to talk about it. "How long are you already here?"

Van shrugged, watching a little boy and a little girl chase each other across the place, their father trying desperately to catch them. "I don't know. Some hours."

"And what did you do all the time?" Hitomi asked, her eyes sparkling curiously while she was studying him. He was fascinating her in a strange way, not only because his mood was changing within the blink of an eye but also because he seemed to built up a wall of indifference in no time whenever something was mentioned that refered to him and his circumstances in any way.

The young man straightened at the question and stretched. "Nothing at all," he answered. "Mainly, watching the people. It's interesting."

She smiled lightly and turned away from him. "You wonder what they're thinking, where they're going," she said quietly, drops of water tickling over her arms. "So many faces with so many thoughts on their minds."

"They walk through their lives with closed eyes, too busy with their own problems to notice and enjoy what's around them," Van replied, his voice unnaturally flat.

Hitomi frowned at him. She hadn't known that he was so bitter. "I wouldn't generalize it like that," the honey-blonde stated and looked away. "Of course, some people might be in a rush but I think that a lot do know what's around them." 

"And even if," Van contradicted coldly. "I doubt that one of them ever wasted a single second to be thankful therefore. Be thankful for the sun, they see almost every day; be thankful for the wind, cooling their skin. They take it as a matter of course. They forgot to esteem all that. What would they say if it was suddenly taken away from them?"

Hitomi was looking at him with narrowed eyes, a confused expression on her face. She just couldn't make him out. He blinked when he noticed her stare and a sheepish expression crept upon his face. 

"I'm sorry," he murmured and stared at his hands. "Sometimes, I just--"

"No, it's okay," Hitomi interupted him quickly, making him look up. "No need to apologize for your opinion. It's an interesting question indeed."   

"You think so?" Van asked with sceptically raised brows and ran a hand through his slightly wet hair, his intense eyes resting on her.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes and then, back at the sky, trying to ignore that madly beating heart of hers. The sunlight was almost white, warming her face with incredible intensity and she could do nothing but smile.

"I would terribly miss all that," she said and opened her eyes again which were sparkling like emeralds. "I would miss the sun, I would miss the clouds, would even miss the rain for it has its own beauty. But to have nothing of that...must be horrible. We may not show it all the time but believe me, we are thankful."

Glancing at Van again, she found him still looking at her and it made her flush. "Just say it," Hitomi ordered, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Say what?" he asked, tilting his head curiously to the side and his black strands tumbled over his auburn eyes. 

"Say that I'm a weird person," she replied quietly and turned away again, struggling to keep herself from glancing at him. "At least, that's what everybody thinks of me when they stayed with me for more than two minutes. I tend to act oddly after a while."

"Is it really that important what other people think about you?" Van questioned and turned to look at the noisy stream of people which was flowing past them, faces appearing and vanishing; faces he would probably never see again.

"Isn't it important for you?" Hitomi asked back, leaning onto the brim of the fountain.

"I don't know," Van answered, still observing the people around him with attentive eyes. "I never cared about it and I actually never thought about it. But maybe the people around you don't care either, ever thought about that?"

"I don't have the self-confidence to do so," Hitomi responded with a grin of surrender and glancing at the raven-haired youth beside her, she saw the corners of his lips turned into a faint smile.

It was quiet again, both of them indulged in their own thoughts. It was strange but once again, Hitomi didn't regard the silence between them as one of those embaressing ones she had often been granted with, where you just stand in front of each other, shuffling with your foot over the ground, not knowing what to say.

This one was different and pleasant in an odd way. 

"Look at him," she then said quietly and motioned at a bench across the path which went past the fountain. "You can't convince me that he's not enjoying the day."

Grinning to himself, Van looked up and his gaze rested on a young man who was sleeping on the bench across from them, noisy people walking past him but he didn't seem to care. His eyes were closed and his head was tilted backwards, the sunlight caressing his face. With his hands crossed in front of his chest, he looked at peace, the brown business suit slightly crumpled.

"He's probably enjoying his lunch-break, as well as you," Van stated and brushed a strand of pitch-black hair out of his reddish-brown eyes, making Hitomi smile. She liked it when he did that. "By the way, when is your break over?"

She liked the way the wind tugged at his sleeveless, red shirt, revealing his collarbones every now and then. His eyes were sparkling from under his hair, the wind making it sway softly. She had already noticed the longing look in his eyes. She had seen it when they had visited the festival here in the park and she saw it now. The way he observed his surroundings, the way he watched the people was just...different.

"Hitomi?"

"Huh?" the young woman blinked and found herself staring in Van's boundless eyes which were glinting with amusement.

"Your break?" he repeated patiently, his lips bending into a smile. "When does it end?"

"Er..." Hitomi began and directed her gaze down to the silver watch at her wrist, a faint pink tinting her cheeks. Her eyes instantly widened by seeing the time. "Five minutes ago!" she shrieked and jumped from the brim.

"Seems as if you have to go then," Van replied and leaned onto his knees again, watching Hitomi dust off her black skirt.

"Yeah," she smiled up at him. She didn't dare to interpret disappointment in his voice. "It was nice to talk with you. But look, I spent my complete lunch-break with you though I don't even know your full name."

She frowned when Van looked at his hands again, twisting the sheet of paper between his fingers and she was just about to say something when he spoke.

"Fanel," he answered and tilted his head up at her, a warm smile on his lips that made his eyes dance. "Van Fanel. It was a pleasure to talk with you, miss Kanzaki."

Hitomi grinned, her heart beating with full force against her ribs. This was her chance. It was like an invitation. Now or never. She had thought about it since she had sat down beside him, had thought about a way to say it. It wouldn't be better than now. But no words came over her lips, the grin glued onto her features and that one voice kept screaming inside her head, throwing a multiple echo against her skull. _Ask him!_    

"Everything alright?" Van asked, his eyes slightly narrowed when Hitomi made no move to leave or even to breathe.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, her voice a little bit higher than usual. "I was just thinking about..." 

_Ask him!_

"Yukari and Amano invited me to...to go to the theatre with them, on Friday," the green-eyed girl mumbled, trying desperately to avoid his eyes. He staring at her with the full force of his incredible eyes didn't make it easier for her. 

But gods, it couldn't be so difficult to say those damn words! Well, to tell the truth, she had never asked a guy before. She had always been the one to be asked and not vice versa. "Merle will also join us and I thought...I thought that maybe you would also like to go there?"

She would get a refusal, that was for sure. She was sure like she knew that the sun would set in nine hours and would rise tomorrow again, was sure like she knew that she would spent the rest of the day lying on the bar, face hidden under her arms. Why should someone like him want to meet her again? He had probably better things to do on Friday evening than spending time with someone who couldn't even—

"I'd love to."

_What? _

"What?" Hitomi uttered, not quite believing her ears.

"I'd love to," Van repeated, smiling at the look on her face. That red on her cheeks did suit her a lot. "Thanks for inviting me. Tell me when and where and I'll be there."

If she had been excited earlier, she was near an heart-attack now. She struggled to keep herself from screaming with joy, a million butterflies dancing inside her stomach.

"We'll meet around seven in the evening, in front of the _New Theatre,_" Hitomi replied, her voice slightly shaking. "You know where it is?"

"Don't worry," Van said and ran a hand through his hair again. "I'll be there."

"See you then," she waved briefly, not able to hide the grin anymore. "Have a nice day."

"I will," the young man promised. "Goodbye."

With a last smile, Hitomi turned around and was about to float back to the restaurant on a carpet of fluffy, pink clouds when his melodic voice stopped her again, her heart leaping three meters.

"Hitomi?" he called, making her turn on her heels and look at him, delicate brows raised questioningly. "Do you smell that?" 

Hitomi frowned and sniffed the air. "You mean the hot dogs?" she asked, pointing with her thumb at the stand, some meters away. A thick cloud of mustard and ketchup scent hovered in the air, the white smoke of the grill slowly crawling over the footpath. 

"No," he replied and shook his head. "I mean this other scent. I don't know how to describe it but I never smelled it before."

Hitomi took a deep breath. "Fresh-cut lawn," she answered, the unique, pleasant scent filling her nostrils.

"Really?" The auburn-eyed youth closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, a content look on his face. "Thank you. And sorry again for making you return late. Someday, you'll really get fired because of me."

"Nah," Hitomi said and waved it off. "I'm always late, I just can't help." 

He smiled at her and with a tingling feeling spreading through her entire body, she turned away and jogged back to the restaurant. For the whole way, one question was repeating itself inside her head over and over again. Who was Van Fanel? 

She didn't know much about him. To be exactly, she knew nothing about him, apart from his name. She didn't know where he lived nor what he did. She didn't know who this ominous Vargas was and what connected him with Van. The only thing she knew was that she wanted to know more about him. And there was plenty of time.

A huge grin spread across her face that threatened to split her skull, her mind two days ahead. Hitomi didn't even notice that her legs led her back to the restaurant and that Yukari was observing her with a suspicious look when she returned, asking what was the reason for that incredible grin of hers.

For a long time, Hitomi first was happy about the way things went.                                                                

                                                                                                     ~´´``~

It was a dim room of the size of an detached house, filled with computers and people who were sitting on black chairs in front of the quietly humming machines. Only the flickering light of the huge plasma screens which reached up to the white ceiling illuminated the room and Vargas' pale face. He was standing in the middle of the room beside a grey-haired man who was almost as twice as old and only of half the height as himself. But what was about the man that made Vargas look that intimidated?

"I need the recording, now!" the old man barked, more wrinkles than usual on his features and his raspy voice could be heard quite clearly in a room, three floors above.

Dr. Isaac Dornkirk. The project was his life. Against every prediction, it had worked out the way nobody had ever believed was possible and everything had been perfect for more than nineteen years – that was until now.  

"Tell me, Vargas," Dornkirk said quietly but though it made Vargas flinch. It was the first time that he addressed Vargas since he had entered the room. "0175 enters your office when you're not in there and half an hour later, it returns and runs away. Why should the subject do something like that?"

Vargas was staring at the ground. The way Dornkirk had said that made clear that he wouldn't listen to excuses and lies.

"There are no supervising cameras in your office," he continued and turned around, his purple eyes burning through Vargas' skin while he clicked his Biro. It was some annoying habit of him. "But I think you know quite well what happened there."

"I was working at my report when Millerna called me," Vargas began, his head turned away. "I was angry and distracted when I left my office and I forgot to close some files. Va– I mean, the subject probably saw them."

"Which files, Vargas?" Dornkirk asked quietly and patiently, speaking to the tall man like a father to his little son who refused to admit that he had thrown the stone at the window. 

"My report from yesterday," the man with the huge scar on his face answered, visibly squirming under Dornkirk's gaze. "The test results from Millerna's latest test."

Dornkirk raised his grey brows. "That's no reason for running away," he stated and slowly crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"The file of his family."

It was quiet in the room, after the words had been said, Vargas breathing heavily and Dornkirk's face expressionless. The old man had even stopped clicking with his Biro.

"Dr. Dornkirk?" a voice reveberated from the walls, mingled with statical crackling, and broke the silence. "We found the recording." 

"Show me," Dornkirk replied flatly and turned away from Vargas, still no emotion evident on his features. 

The one plasma screen which nearly covered the entire wall switched from a flimmering blue to pitch-black, the views of the different cameras which had been visible until then vanishing. It was completely dark in the room, everyone staring at the huge screen. 

Suddenly, a blurred greenish light spread over the wall, illuminating all the faces in the room and causing the white coats to glow. Like everybody else in there, Vargas watched how a backpack was thrown out of the elevator, followed by Van climbing out of the cabin. The tall man was staring directly in Van's cold eyes when the boy looked up, just before the doors of the elevator closed, leaving them in darkness again.

The plasma screen switched back to the views of some supervising cameras and Dornkirk clicked his Biro.

"Now, tell me, Vargas," he said, his voice dangerously low. "How comes that the subject knows about the emergency exit H 2/13? Did it also find the ground plan of the lab in your office?"

The question wasn't serious and Vargas knew quite well what Dornkirk wanted to hear. "I showed him," he answered and took a deep breath, before he looked up. "I led Van out and showed him the city."

Vargas was looking right at Dornkirk, even holding his gaze when the grey-haired man glanced at him. "You acted against my permission," he stated calmly and turned away again.

"You would have never allowed it!" Vargas shot back, clenching his fists. He felt something rise within him, something he had never felt to his superior before; anger.

"I don't think that you're in the position to raise your voice against me, Vargas," Dornkirk replied slowly and continued to click his Biro.

"It was his biggest wish to see the world out there," Vargas hissed through gritted teeth, his flashing brown eyes never leaving Dornkirk's fragile form.

"You disappointed me," the purple-eyed man said, not caring about Vargas' argument. "I knew that the subject would make you weak. I saw it at the way you were looking at it. But I trusted you, I thought you were strong enough to resist these base instincts of yours."

Vargas audibly grinded his teeth, trying to force down the anger which was unstoppably building within him.

"I thought the project meant as much to you as it meant to me," Dornkirk continued quietly, not noticing Vargas' shaking fists. "But obviously, I've been wrong." He turned to face his employee, now. "You know that I could fire you immediately. I have every right to, don't you think?"

The words hovered in the air for a brief moment, everyone in the room staring at Vargas. 

"But you know 0175 best, you already were out there with it," the old man added, glancing over his shoulder. "It was your fault and now, you have to face the consequences. It's just fair isn't it?"

"Yes, sir," Vargas hissed.

"You'll be in charge of the search," Dornkirk ordered and faced the screen again, his sound accepting no contradiction. "Prove that I wasn't mistaken about you. Make me proud."

"Yes, sir."

Vargas turned around and left for the door, the sound of his footsteps reveberating from the cold walls, his face a mask of rage.

"And Vargas," Dornkirk stopped him when he was just about to open the door. "I'll send you help."

The noise of the door being slammed shut echoed within the room, making Dornkirk smile. "Connect me with Dilandau."

Fingers danced over keyboards and lights started to blink, the sound of a telephon ringing audible. Soon, the plasma screen changed again and the face of a young man appeared, slightly contortet for he was leaning right in front of the camera of his videophone. Shining silvery hair framed his handsome face and sparkling red eyes looked directly down at Dornkirk, a grin spreading over the young man's face which reached from ear to ear.

"You have a job for me?"                                                                 

                                                                                                        ~´´``~

The sun was slowly setting behind the huge skyscrapers which were hemming the park, the light painting the trees an intense orange. The last people were about to leave the park, intending to reach home before it was completely dark. Some dogs barked in the distance while the fountain was playing its endless melody.

Van still sat on the stony brim, listening to the noises around him die down and watching the man on the bench, across the place. He hadn't left his place either, sleeping in the shadows of an old oak tree the whole time.

Van lay his head in his hands and rubbed his tired eyes, before running with both of his hands through his hair. Tanned fingers grasped unruly strands and he exhaled deeply, clear but exhausted, auburn eyes directed to the ground. 

He hadn't thought that so much could change within one day. Yesterday, he had lived his (almost) ordinary life in the lab, keeping his computer company and bearing yet another test. And today...today, he seemed to live another life, a new life. A life, without white walls, without needles, without the people he had known for his entire life; the people who had lied to him.

It was strange but he felt absolutely nothing when he thought of them. No disappointment, no anger, no hatred. He had expected his innards to burn with hatred but he just felt oddly numb by seeing their faces in his mind. Kind of like the way as if he had once again swam too hard, every energy drained out of his body. Maybe he had tried too hard to hate. Maybe he had hated enough, not able to bear any more. He was tired, mentally more than physically.

His chest was rising and falling with his heavy breaths, the events of the day repeating themselves in his mind over and over again, like a damaged cd. He felt like dreaming. It was so damn surreal to feel the sun warm his face and the wind crawl over his skin and under his shirt, causing goosebumps. He just wasn't used to it.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" a deep, male voice startled him suddenly out of his thoughts.

Van's head snapped up and his reddish-brown eyes widened in surprise when he faced the man who had sat on the bench and was now resting right beside the raven-haired youth. His head was tilted backwards, eyes closed and his glasses reflected the last bit of sunlight. 

"Yeah, it is," Van replied slowly and turned away again, not in the mood to make conversation.

"Beautiful day to run away from home, isn't it?" the man continued and Van froze, clenching his fists and crumpling up the sheet of paper in his hand in the process. "But don't worry, I can understand you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Van replied flatly, his hands slightly shaking.

"Oh, I think you of all people know it best," the man beside him contradicted and chuckled lightly, pushing his glasses up his nose. "Believe me, Van, I would also prefer this to the annoying white rooms down there."

It was like running straight into a wall. The stranger knew.

Van's heart was beating so loud that he could hardly hear his own thoughts. He had made a mistake. Over all the joy because of his new freedom, he had totally forgotten that they were probably searching him. Dornkirk would move heaven and earth to get him back. And he had rather waited in public for them to find him than hiding somewhere else.

He had been so damn blind. He should have been more careful, he should have sensed that something hadn't been right with the man on the bench. It had been all so clear but he hadn't noticed, too busy with absorbing all the new impressions. It would cost his freedom.

"Why suddenly so quiet?" the man asked and looked at Van who was staring at the ground with wide eyes. "Did I scare you?" He chuckled again, making the shocked runaway look up. "If so, I'm sorry. But let me introduce myself before I explain. My name is Dryden Fassa."

"Am I supposed to know you?" the raven-haired youth replied coldly, trying desperately to find a way out of that.

"I thought you wouldn't do," Dryden stated quietly and shook his head. "I was sure that they told you nothing about all that. My father owns the Fassa Trading Company and he's supporting Dornkirk with as much money as possible."

"And you're here to bring me back so that your father didn't invest his money in vain?" Van questioned, hatred ringing in his voice and an incredible fire burning within his eyes. He wouldn't make it easy for Dryden, that was for sure.

"You believe I'm capable of doing that?" the green-eyed man asked back, instead of answering right away. "What if I just thought it was a wonderful day and wanted to spend my afternoon here?"

Van gave a bitter laugh. "Oh, really?" he asked and turned away, his hands now clasping the brim violantly.

"I can't deceive you, can I?" Dryden smiled and ran a hand through his curly, brown hair. "Fine. I'm here to offer you my help."

Van stared at him with evident distrust written in bold across his face. "Why should you want to help me?"

"You wouldn't believe if I told you that I'm doing that just for the fun of it, right?" Dryden replied and chuckled at the angry look on Van's features. "Well, you can see it as some kind of personal satisfaction. I don't like what my father is doing, I never liked it, and I hate him therefore. That's why I really enjoy the sight of this little investment of his grow legs." He glanced at Van with a grin on his face, before he continued. "And I'm delighted to see it proved that Dornkirk isn't almighty."

The auburn-eyed youth frowned at that. "What do you mean?"

Dryden smiled and rubbed his chin. "In all these years and though all his money and knowledge and humilating tests, he never managed to break your will. And it'll put paid to him, some day." 

"How did you find me?" Van asked when Dryden was quiet again, staring at something far in the distance.

"I saw you on one of the screens of a supervising camera," he explained with a shrug. "There are lots of them in the lab, you know."

"Did anyone else see me?" Van continued, afraid that his hunters could wait behind the trees around him, just waiting for the moment that Dryden would stop this little conversation.

"No, nobody saw you," the green-eyed man replied reassuringly. "And I didn't tell anyone. When you left the lab, I followed you to the park and well, you know the rest. But they already know that you're gone. They're searching you."

Van grinned, revealing his twisted canine tooth. "I guessed that."

"What did you plan to do, now?" the only Fassa-offspring asked quietly, making Van look up. "I mean, you're probably not going to sit here and wait until they find you."

"You think I would tell you?" Van replied, with a confused look on his face.   

Dryden snickered to himself, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "Of course, not," he said matter-of-factly. "But whatever it is, don't hesitate to ask for my help."

Van narrowed his eyes in distrust when Dryden reached into a pocket at the inside of his jacket, fishing something out of it. With a broad grin plastered across his face, he handed Van a neatly white calling card. The young man inspected it carefully, one brow raised sceptically.

"Just call and I'll be there," the brown-haired man explained and spread his arms. "Nothing is impossible for good old Dryden."

Van stuffed the card in the pocket of his pants and watched Dryden rise from the brim. He stretched noisily, before he turned around and smoothed his suit.

"You need anything right now?" he asked and Van shook his head. "Money? Something to eat? Somewhere to sleep?"

"No, thanks," the young man replied but nodded in a thankful gesture.

"Ah, maybe there is something," he smiled mysteriously and reached into the inside pocket of his jacket again.

This time, it was a map; eight hundred and ten square kilometers concreted ground, ran through by a net of innumerable streets, banned on a sheet of paper. With a wink, the green-eyed man placed the map beside Van and turned away, hands stuffed in the pockets of his pants.  

"You might need it," Dyden said with his back turned to Van, pushing his glasses up his nose again. "Take care, Van, and until next time."

"Mr. Fassa, wait!" Van called when he was just about to walk off. "I've got one more question."

"I don't like this formal stuff, just call me Dryden," he replied over his shoulder but stopped to wait for Van to continue. "Just ask."

"Why did you wait so long until you spoke with me?" the raven-haired youth said, boring with his intense eyes directly into Dryden's green orbs but he held Van's gaze without even blinking. "I saw that you were sitting on the bench the whole time. You could have asked me five hours, ago. I was alone, all the time."

Shrugging, Dryden turned away again and slowly crossed the place in front of the fountain, the sound of his footsteps echoing into the afternoon sky. "I'd like to get an idea of the people, I want to offer my help."

"And which idea did you get of me?"

Dryden kept leaving. "I'm convinced it's worth it to help you." He didn't even wait for a reply, raising his arm instead of saying goodbye.

Van watched Dryden walk down the alley until he was only a small brown dot within the dark green of the trees. The young man looked down at the map which was resting beside him and then, at the sheet of paper, he hadn't put aside for one second. The last rays of sunlight were dancing over the tops of the trees, reflected on the smooth windows of the skyscrapers, when he slowly unfolded the thin sheet which was already crumpled, the edges slightly torn. 

It was a page from a telephon book, carefully pulled out. A large amount of names was listed, together with the matching telephon number and address. The paper was raw and yellowed from being touched by innumerable fingers, belonging to innumerable people. If it had been able to speak, the page would have told a lot. Only it knew from all the different stories, the small black letters kept secret. Just as the one name which was circled thick red.

_Fanel, Folken Lacour de_

_Pine Tree Lane 10 _

Tbc...                                                               

                                                                                               ~´´``~

And, of course, a big big thank you to all my reviewers!!!! Thanks, people!!!!

**Kayo: **Of course, Dryden did help Van to escape ^_^ I just love the guy!! Hehe, and don't worry, there will be more wing-ish action in the story *cackles* Just wait!! ^_^ And lol, I hope you survived the chapter though there was Hitomi in it!!! :P *scratchs head* Hmm, the grammar errors...even if they're no biggies, you really can tell me! I'm not English and I'd like to take every possibility to improve!!! ^_^ Thanks again!!!!!!!

**Ryuu Angel: **Lol, you like Van's numer??? I like the guy :P And haha, losing things within a square meter!! But you know what's even better?? Searching all desperately for something (and making your room a mess in the process) only to notice that you were holding it in your hand, the whole time!!! GYAH!! Now, that's frustrating!! ^_^ And I'm glad you liked it!! Didn't know if it turned out the way it was supposed to cause you're getting kinda numb if you read it over and over again u_u Hehe, can you believe that I didn't like Dryden that much when he first appeared in the series?? But somehow, I grew to like him more and more and in the end I could do nothing but love him!! (I loved it when he gave her the ring!!! Gyah!!) ^____^ Thanks again so much for another ryuu-ish review!!! (You like our word creations as much as I do?! :P) *hugs you like mad*

**DragonTamer9741: **^_________^ Glad you liked it!!! Thankiez!!

**SabineballZ: ***von Ohr zu Ohr grins* Geduld ist eine Tugend *träller* ^_^ Wo würden wir denn hinkommen, wenn ich dir alles verrate??? Aber ach du scheiße!!!! Ich hoffe echt deinem Bruder geht's besser!!! Meine Güte, zu sagen, ich wäre leicht geschockt gewesen, wär die Untertreibung des Jahrhunderts!! Ich wünsch dir, dass alles wieder gut wird!!!! Und vielen Dank, dass du trotzdem geschrieben hast!! *SabineballZ knuddel*

**snow blossoms:** *blushs* Thanks!!! And yeah, I like Dryden, too!! Even in the series, he's totally cool!! I mean, he gave his whole trading fleet to save Van!!!! *shakes head* Hope you're, at least, partly satisfied with the chapter ^_^ Hey, there was no fluff but he met Hitomi!!! It's something!! And there are some more chapters to come!! *cackles* Thanks again!!

**dreamingofflyingaway: ***grins goofily* Oh yes, he is a cutie, definitely!!! ^_^ *blushs* Thank you!!!

**Spirit0: **O_o 12 hours??? I really do feel guilty, now u_u And no no, Dryden is a good one here ^_^ Mr. Nice Guy, if you know what I mean :P And hehe, I will answer the questions, don't worry, but one by one. So, it'll take some time ^_^ *blushs like mad* I'm glad you like it that much!! But nope, I don't write original stuff ^_^ Never tried it!! Thanks so much for the review and I hope you survived the quiz and all your homework *pats your back* Some poor students we are!!!****

**Anime Monkey: **^_^ Thankiez!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hehe, well well, I think I answered the question where Van will go...even if I needed the whole chapter to do so ^_^ Hope you liked it!!!!

**Aylee the Dragon: **Lol, I get it, you liked it ^__________^ And you even downloaded the rasmus song!!! *grins* So cool!! Yep yep, I really like it!! I saw them at a little concert and it was so great!! ^_^ And see, you have the question answered!! What he will do now, I mean ^_^ *ducks behind a fireproof wall* Don't worry, I really intended to finish it!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**Forever3330: **Lol, thankiez!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ^____^

**Big-Mops-in-shorts: **Lol, ich mag den Namen ^_^ Eine Frage. Bist du auch Deutsch?? War leicht überrascht als ich deinen letzten review bekommen hab ^_^ *grins* Fühl mich geehrt, dich als Fan zu haben!!!! *verbeug* Vielen vielen lieben Dank ^____________^ Freu mich, dass es dir gefällt!! Und hah, Tut mir leid aber ich mag es irgendwie die Kapitel so enden zu lassen...weiß nicht, macht irgendwie Spaß, obwohl ich jedes Mal ausrasten könnte wenn ich sowas bei anderen lese!!! Haha ^_^ Eine Frage??? Möchte nich wissen, was viele Fragen bei dir sind :P Zur Antwort: abwarten ^_^ Danke noch mal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**Liarra: **^_^ You like it!!!! Thankiez!!!!!! And here is more!!!

**Sakura Scout: **Who said that there wouldn't be our Dilly in it?? ^_^ So yeah, Mr. Pyro finally decided to appear!! Thanks!!!

**dawnsama:** *blushs* Thankiez!!! ^_^ Yep yep, and there will be even more twists!!! *cackles* 

**ShiAne: **Lol, my wording is old fashioned? Now, that's something new! ^_^ Would you accept that I'm not English as an excuse??? *scratchs back of head* Well, my English teacher never informed me about archaic English (I think she doesn't even know herself u_u) So, thanks to you for doing it! ^_^ I'll correct it and it would be nice if you told me when I'm doing it again!!! *blushs* And thanks for adding me to your list!!! ^_^ 

**Starry Eyed Wonder: **O_O You?? Reviewing my story??? *faints to the floor* I do feel honoured ^______________^ And even better, you like it!!! *cheeks hurt from grinning* Ah yes, that secondary character thing...You know, I think I couldn't write only about Van and Tomi (though I would really like to) like you do! I mean, reading your stories, I know that I could never put this amount of feelings and emotions into the story (Did I ever say that I love your stories :P) but I'm glad you like it though ^______________^ Hah, you saw my piccies??? ^_^ That's cool!! Yup yup, he's some damn hot (and terribly unreal T__________T) guy!! *snatchs Van away from the unreal anime world* He's all mine!!! Bwahahaha!!!! ^_^ Thanks!!! I'll keep up writing and you do, too, okay?! ^_^

**Inferna: **^_^ Thank you!!! And about your request...let's see what I can do about it ^_^

**KittyDuo195: **Thanks!! ^_^

**loverwren: **Lol, I like Dryden, too ^_^ Hope you got the email and thanks!!!

**dilanda: **^_^ Glad you liked it and thanks!!!

**darksteampunk: **Don't worry, I'll do! ^_^ Thankiez!!!

**A/N: **Oh well, I know it's stupid but for I probably won't be updating before Christmas again, I wish you all a Merry Christmas!!!!!!!! *hugs everyone* Yeah, I do know that there are more than two weeks left but when they can sell chocolate santa clauses and christmas gingerbreads in the middle of October (!!!!!! We'll be able to buy coloured easter eggs at New Year's Eve, I just know it u_u), I can wish you merry christmas, two weeks earlier!! ^____________________^ I'm a sentimentally little thing but I can't help!! Have a nice time and till next chapter!!!!

Dariel

__


	8. Family Portrait

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Escaflowne but who cares?! T_T

Chapter 8 Family Portrait

The morning sun was hitting the crumbled front of the block at Westend Drive 21 with full force, the rusty railing of the fire escape sparkling a dirty green. Innumerable windows were reflecting the light, making the people curse in their cars when they went by and were blinded once again. A little boy was squinting against the sun, his tiny hands grasping the window sill while he watched the busy street down at his feet. A smile curved on his thin lips by looking at the dogs which were strolling along the sidewalks and he just left his position when his mother called him to breakfast.

A little bit higher, at the fourth floor and the third window from the right, dark and heavy curtains were hindering the sunlight from entering the small apartment beneath. There was only one hole in the fabric, a round hole where once the fire of a lighter had burned its way through the curtains. A slim ray of sunlight was going right through it and rested on the pale eyelid of a sleeping person.

Annoyed, the eyelid twitched and fluttered open, exposing over-sensitive, red eyes to the bright light. With a yelp, the young man on the bed straightened and pressed his hands over his eye, white sheets falling from his bare upper torso.

"Damn sun," Dilandau muttered and blinked the pain away. 

He ran a hand over his face and stretched noisily, glancing at the watch on his night stand. 11:13 AM. It had been late, last night. 

With a grunt, the young man climbed out of the bed and walked to the bathroom, his tired eyes looking around his apartment. Clothes and sheets of paper lay scattered around, a cable salad covering the floor. Three computers were humming on a desk in the corner beside the door, the only light coming from the videophone between them which still showed the two globes of Dornkirk Inc. Before he disappeared through the door, Dilandau saw his fax blink.

Three seconds later, he returned with a toothbrush between his lips, heading straight for the fax. Running a hand through his silvery hair, the albino picked up the notes which had arrived while he had been sleeping. Dilandau had stayed awake till late at night, scanning through the archives of Dornkirk's laboratories and trying to get as much information as possible for his new job. 

Millerna Aston, head of the scientific department, had sent him the last notes he had needed. Rummaging through the pile of sheets while he chewed on his toothbrush, he found a photo; a young man with unruly raven-black hair who was glaring right back at him, auburn eyes blazing. Brows raised curiously, the albino tilted his head to the side to read the note beside the photo – _0175//Van Fanel_.   

With a last look at the photo, he stuffed the notes in his backpack, together with batteries, field glasses, a camera and a telephoto lens with 500mm focal length. He traced the cold, black surface of the objective with his index finger and an impish grin on his pale lips; with this baby, he could read a newspaper over a person's shoulder who sat on a bench, in a distance of 400 meters. 

Dilandau left to finish his bathroom activities and applied his long-time friend sunblocker, the white paste like a second skin. It had been specially manufactured by Dornkirk Inc. and he had been granted with the honour of being the guinea-pig. The young man shrugged. He didn't peel like a snake and that was what counted. 

His clothes still lay where he had thrown them, before taking a shower: in the far corner under the washbasin. The red-eyed man slipped swiftly in the black pants and white shirt, his jacket slung over the doorknob. Finding his keys and the mobile phone which had arrived by express last afternoon in the inside pocket, he reached for his backpack and base cap and left the apartment, without looking back. The first thing he would do now, was getting breakfast. He couldn't think properly with an empty stomach.

"And then, I'll go search for the little runaway," he stated with a superior grin, stuffing his keys into the backpack.

                                                                                                             ~´´``~

He felt like driftwood on the ocean, letting the stream of people carry him along the sidewalks, their mingled voices filling the air like the murmur of the sea. They flooded noisily past him and people jostled him, looking at him and looking away again, not caring if he was there or not. Just another face in the crowd. His lips turned into what could be identified as a sarcastic smile; if they just knew.

He was surprisingly awake for not having slept a single second last night. He had lain on the brim of the fountain the whole time. He had watched the fountain turn off after sunset and had watched it turn on again, at dawn. It had been totally quiet at night, only a siren had torn the silence every now and then while he had been watching the stars. He had watched them cross the nightsky in their eternal and slow pace, as if trying to catch up with what he had missed the last eighteen years.

It was around noon and the people were on their way to enjoy their lunchbreak, somewhere outside their offices. Van left the noisy sidewalks and entered a quieter street. Little kids were playing hide and seek in front of the stairs which led up to the entrance of their apartment house and the young man passed them by with a smile. He turned a few corners until he finally reached Pine Tree Lane 10, thanks to Dryden's map.

And suddenly, he wasn't so sure about all that, anymore. 

A strong breeze tugged violently at his raven-black hair when he looked up at the building, a shadow clouding his auburn eyes. Van had made the decision to visit his brother with the first light of the day. He had debated all night long but now, he wasn't sure if it really was such a good idea. What was he supposed to say? _Hello, Folken, I'm your brother. Missed me? _

The young man snorted and turned to look at the street beside him. He didn't even know what Folken knew. Did he know about the experiment? Did he know about the laboratories under the streets of this city? Did he even know that he had got a brother? Van didn't know what Dornkirk had told his family, didn't know what he had told his parents. He didn't know how Folken would react. 

He would probably call Van crazy and call the police. If he thought about it, it even sounded crazy in his ears. He probably wouldn't believe himself either if he was in Folken's position. But what if he knew? What if Folken knew about everything? About Dornkirk, about the lab, about his wings? What if Folken brought him right back to the old man with a smile on his lips? 

It was when a gentle tug at his arm made him snap out of his thoughts. Startled, Van turned around and gasped audibly when he met sparkling green eyes. They belonged to a little girl in a yellow summer dress, her long brown hair tamed in a ponytail which swayed softly in the wind. The image of Hitomi's face flashed instantly through his mind, her bright green orbs smiling at him.

"Did you get lost?" the girl asked curiously, smiling sweetly up at him, and her eyes danced with pure innocence.

Van blinked and turned to look at the apartment building with the number ten, various windows reflecting the intense sunlight. He would never get to know if he turned around and left, now. 

"No," he answered quietly and smiled back at her when he turned around again. "I didn't. I just found my way again. And what about you, little lady?"

The green-eyed girl giggled and pointed over her shoulder with a small thumb. "My mom is over there," she explained in a whisper. "Talking with a friend and I'm actually not allowed to speak to strangers."

Van winked at her with a grin. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," he replied and she giggled again.

"Leena, what are you doing there?" her mother called when she spotted her daughter beside the raven-haired youth. "Don't you remember what I told you? Come here, now!"

Leena rolled her eyes in annoyance and sighed heavily, blowing a brown curl out of her face. "I must go," she mumbled and looked up at Van with clear eyes which were sparkling like emeralds. "Good luck on your way, stranger."

"Thank you, little lady," Van said and bowed to her, making her grin.

She turned around in a swirl of yellow fabric and ran back to her mother, her hair swaying in the wind and her laughter echoing along the street. Leena danced around her mouther like an excited little dog and Van turned away with a smile, facing the apartment building. Red bricks twinkled at him through the innumerable holes in the old façade, different lives hidden behind different windows. Was about time he got some answers to the heap of questions in his mind.

His brows narrowed in determination, the young man crumpled the wrapping of his chewing gum, which he had been holding for an eternity it seemed, in his hand and threw it into the wastebasket at the street. Adjusting his backpack on his shoulder and stuffing his hands in the pockets of his pants, Van walked to the front door of the huge building. A dog barked behind a window right beside the entrance, obviously trying to scare the intruder away. 

Thirteen surnames were listed at the wall beside the door, each having a bell button and the apartment number right beside them. The name Fanel was at the eighth position. Apartment 204. And just then, Van noticed his furiously beating heart. It felt as if it was trying to break through his ribs, a strange and uncomfortable feeling rushing through his innards and twisting them into tight knot. His hand was shaking when he reached for the bell button and he took a deep breath. He never came in contact with it.

The door beside him burst open with a loud thud and a young woman stormed past him, hitting his shoulder hard. 

"No time to apologize!" she called with a clear voice when she rushed down the steps onto the sidewalk, her shining blond hair swirling around her.  

A confused expression on his face, Van watched the woman in the short, red dress run down the street, the clicking of her high heels fading slowly, while stretching out his arm to stop the door from clicking shut. The raven-haired youth shook his head and entered through the open entrance. It looked like an invitation.

It smelled like lunch and the muffled clinking of dishes penetrated the walls. Inside, it didn't look as old as it had looked from outside. The walls were painted a light beige, the old wood of the doors sticking out a shining red. The decrepit stairs groaned under his weight, the sound of his own heart hammering in his ears almost drowning the noise. 204 was situated directly beside the stairway, at the second floor. 

It seemed like standing in front of an insurmountable wall. No way around it. No way over it. No way under it. Only the way through the red door. No alternative apart from the way he had come. He could still turn around. He could leave this building and go somewhere else. Nobody forced him to do that. Van snorted. Since when was he such a coward? Determined, he stretched out his arm and rang the bell exhaling deeply.

And waited. He neither heard the bell ring quietly within the apartment nor the rumble which followed, the roaring in his ears deafening. His first instinct was to simply run. Just run without turning around. Folken Fanel would think some kids had had fun in ringing his bell and annoying him in the process. He would never know that his little brother had stood behind the door. But Van fought down the urge, trying to see through the voices and pictures which were chasing each other in his mind. His heart would burst within the next seconds, anyways.

Right then, the door was opened.

"I knew you would come back and...oh my..."

Bright blue and intense auburn eyes widened simultanously. Van stared in slight shock and confusion at the young woman who had opened the door. Shoulder-long and shining blond hair framed her beautiful features, her delicately shaped body wrapped in a short, red dress which revealed more than a half of her long legs. It was the same woman who had almost knocked him down at the front door. 

A single question was able to force its way through the fog of confusion about this situation in Van's mind. Was it the wrong apartment?

The woman in the doorframe was still staring wide-eyed at him, mouth half opened, not uttering a single word. Brows knitted, the raven-haired man already opened his mouth to ask her when loud noises from the stairs stopped him. He turned around, only to find the woman who stood in the doorframe walk up the stairs, rummaging through her slim, black purse, and realization hit him. Twins.

"Why do I always forget my wallet?" she mumbled and fished for her keys, a light clinking noise indicating that she had found them. "One day, I'll probably..." she gasped when she looked up and met Van's eyes, her own ones wide.

Van looked back at her sister and saw the same shocked expression on her face. 

"Excuse me, I --"   

"Eriya, who's at the door?" a deep voice from inside interupted Van and made the blood in his veins freeze.

He tried to ignore the screaming voices and colliding pictures which showed him what could happen if he stayed, the male voice reveberating within his skull. He couldn't move, not a single fibre of his body listening to his orders. Stiff like a board, he stood in front of the half opened door and waited. 

"I think it's for you, Folken," Eriya replied, an unreadable expression on her face.

With cat-like grace, she stepped aside and opened the door completely. It was abolutely quiet at the second floor when the two men were staring at each other. There was nothing Van could do but stare. No voices, no pictures, his heart refusing to beat on, his feet rooted to the ground. There he was. His brother. Folken Fanel.

Aqua-blue hair framed his long face in the same unruly way as did Van's, brown eyes directly focused on him. He was tall and his broad shoulders stuck in a loose, light-green shirt, his right arm unnaturally stiff. The skin there shimmered oddly in the sunlight, metal sparkling at the joints, and Van noticed with surprise that Folken's right arm was a prothesis.

A strange warm feeling was spreading through Van by looking at his brother whom he had never met in his entire life. He felt himself relax and he let go the breath he had been holding the whole time. Everything he had to do was open his mouth and tell Folken. Tell him who he was and tell him everything about the incredible truth. Tell him about all the things he hadn't been able to tell anyone up to now. Tell him and turn his world upside down. Only four meters were seperating him from his brother. Four meters and eighteen years.

"I'm sorry," Van spoke into the silence, his voice quiet and filled with a warmth he didn't know he was capable of. "I made a mistake about the apartment."

Breaking the eye contact with his brother and without waiting for a reply, he turned away in a fluent motion and descended the stairs. He neither turned around nor looked up when he passed the woman who still stood at the stairs, following him with her gaze.

"Wait!" Folken's deep voice stopped him at the bottom of the staircase and auburn eyes widened.

Van's heart was beating furiously within his chest, his breaths heavy. Could it be? Could it be that Folken knew? Could it be that he knew who Van was, what he was? Did he know that they were brothers? 

"Who are you?" Folken asked, slowly descending the stairs and his eyes never leaving the stranger's back. His hand was slightly shaking when he closed it around the banisters but Van didn't see.

"That's not important," he answered after a brief moment of silence and without turning around to look at Folken. "It's only a name."

"So what of it if you tell me that name?" the brown-eyed man replied, now close behind Van. "It doesn't matter if it is unimportant, does it?"

And slowly, Van turned around and looked up at Folken, his hooded auburn gaze meeting unreadable brown eyes. Twenty centimeters and his entire life between them. "And what if I tell you that you won't like my name?" Van countered, looking Folken firmly in the eye.

"Why not?" Folken questioned, his eyes narrowed and moving slightly, as if searching for something in Van's boundless orbs; searching desperately for something he didn't even know himself.

"Because I'm actually not supposed to be here and turn your life upside down," Van replied quietly and turned away from his brother's piercing stare, a sad smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"Your name," Folken demanded, his voice flat. 

Van frowned and glanced at the man beside him. "Why are you so eager to get to know it?" he asked and frowned even deeper when he saw something gleam within Folken's eyes. It was as if the man wasn't sure what to feel, different emotions reflected in his eyes alternately. Confusion. Distrust. And was it hope?

"Because you look exactly like father," the aqua-blue haired man answered, boring with his eyes right into Van's wide ones. "Because I felt something when I saw you up there I can't explain. As if I knew you."

The raven-haired youth didn't reply, just stared at Folken in disbelief. His heart was beating madly in his throat, waiting for his brother to continue. 

"Your name," he demanded once again and Van looked up, crimson orbs flickering.

"Van Fanel." The words floated through the air like a light breeze but though they seemed to weigh a thousand tons.

His face expressionless like stone, Folken released the air which had been trapped in his lungs in a shuddering breath and took a few steps backwards. With a hollow thud, he plopped down onto the stairs and placed his face in his hand, taking deep and shaky breaths. 

"It was a bad idea to put a foot out of the bed this morning," he mumbled and ran with his left hand over his face, shaking his head. His eyes were flickering when he glanced at Van, his chest rising and falling rapidly, while the raven-haired youth was just standing there, not daring to breathe in fear to shatter the fragile image of his brother. 

"No," Folken finally said and rose from the stairs, turning around with a swift motion. "No, this is not happening."

Van watched in surprise and confusion Folken walk up the steps and enter the apartment without looking back; as if Van wasn't there, as if he had just vanished, as if he had never been there. It was the worst what could have happened. Refusal to believe. He would have been able to deal with a Folken who knew, a Folken who would have wanted to bring him back to the lab - but refusal? The young man was rooted to the ground, unable to move or even breathe. 

This man was the proof that he was not only a goddamn subject, not only a something to try tests on, and leaving him like that was like burning his number forever in his flesh. And it hurt.

He jerked violently when a gently hand was placed on his shoulder, frightened auburn eyes staring into warm blue ones. "Come," the melodic voice of the blond-haired woman said, a delicate hand pointing at the stairs. "He's waiting for you."

Van blinked. "What?" he asked, confusion and irritation swinging in his voice. "But I thought he --"

The blond twin just shook her head patiently and shoved him softly to the stairs. Van oboyed reluctantly and walked up the apartment, his mind in an odd state of numbness.

He entered quietly, the carpet that covered the parquet in the short corridor which led to the living room muffling his footsteps. Bright sunlight flooded the floor and blinded him, dust dancing along the sunbeams. A black leather couch and an easy chair were placed in front of the tv, a two-story glass table between them. The light green walls harmonized perfectly with the beige furniture, exotic fishes chasing each other in a huge aquarium at the other side of the room.

Folken sat on the couch, his shoulders moving with his deep breaths and his left hand placed over his eyes again while Eriya was tenderly stroking his arm. The raven-haired youth just stood there and watched. It was so unreal. He had never seen his brother before. Until yesterday, he hadn't even _known_ that he had got a brother! And now, he was standing in Folken's living room. He feared to wake up. Feared to wake up and return to normal, without the knowledge about his family. Return to being the subject he was.

The quiet noise of the door being shut woke him from his thoughts and the other twin walked past him with the grace of a cat, only to sit down onto the easy chair. The fabric of her skirt rustled when she elegantly crossed her legs, smiling sypathetically at Van before turning to look at Folken. The young man was a few metres away from his brother; so close and yet so lost  

A long sigh escaped Folken's lips before he finally spoke, his gaze directed to the ground. "My little brother was called Van," he began, his voice strained. "But he was born dead, eighteen years ago. The umbilical cord had strangled him when he had moved, the doctors had said. There had been no chance of rescuing him, they had said. He had been burried four days later. And though I never accepted it, I went to the grave every week to visit my brother and bring flowers."

A shaking hand clasping his bluish hair, Folken looked up and his eyes were glistening when he locked his gaze with Van's one. "And yet, here you are, in flesh and blood, an image of my father," his voice was shaking like his hands, Van's face a mask of disbelief. "It's simply impossible! Explain to me, Van. I don't understand it." 

They had told his family that he was dead. And it did make sense. It was as if the pieces of the puzzle that was his life slowly slid together, matching sides finding each other. They had taken him from his parents at his birth and had brought him to the lab without his family knowing, telling them that he was born dead. It was so simple. And everything because of the wing. His wings. Looking up, he found Folken looking directly at him, his brows raised questioningly and his hand entertwined with Eriya's slim one.

The raven-haired youth looked from Folken to the twins and then, turned away to look out of the window, sparkling strands of unruly hair hiding his eyes. He felt guilt rush through him like a mighty wave. "I don't think that this is such a good idea," he replied quietly, eyes focused on the wall of the building across the street. "And after all, I still don't think that it was such a good idea to come here."

"You should have thought about that earlier," the brown-eyed man stated by seeing the expression on Van's face when he looked at the twins, placing his healthy left arm around the waist of the woman beside him. "Eriya is my wife and everything I know does she know as well. No secrets. That goes for Naria, my sister-in-law, too. Just explain."

Without replying or even looking back at them, Van turned around and was just about to take the first step when a strong hand closed around his wrist and stopped him.

"You have no right to leave just like that," Folken said, his voice dangerously slow and low and when Van turned around, he saw that his brother's eyes were narrowed in slight anger. He wanted answers and Van knew that Folken wouldn't let him go without them. "I knew who you were when I saw you in the doorway. I just knew it! But a part of me is still refusing to accept it! It's calling me insane and you know what? It has every reason to for I was at your funeral! I'm confused, Van!" 

"And?" Van barked, an angry fire growing in the depths of his auburn eyes. "And? You think I'm not? Until yesterday, I didn't even know that you were my brother! I didn't know that I had actually a family! I grew up in belief that some old man was my father, that what he did was right, that everything was supposed to be like it was!" He was pouring all the hatred and anger which had built and boiled within him for the last day on Folken and he knew it. And it felt good. 

"Do you know how it feels to find out that the whole last eighteen years of your life were a complete lie?" he was almost screaming now, his eyes blazing. "Do you know it?"

Confusion was replacing the anger on Folken's face now, the grip on Van's wrist losening. "Where did you grow up?" he asked quietly and the look on his brother's face was almost painful, the fire in his auburn eyes instantly dying down.

Van quickly averted his gaze, not able to meet his brother's eyes, and his fists were shaking. He didn't see the warm smile on Folken's face.

"You know what?" he questioned rhetorically. "My biggest wish was always to have a little brother. A little brother to blame for everything I did. A little brother to argue with and to protect."

Van couldn't stop the gasp from passing his lips when Folken's arm sneaked aound him and pressed him against his brother's shaking form in a tight embrace. His eyes were wide and he was stiff like a board, not used to such close contact. He had never been held like this in his entire life and the warmth that surrounded him was overwhelming, carressing his wounded soul.

"Welcome home, Van," Folken whispered in his ear and when Van raised his arms to return the embrace, he noticed that it wasn't Folken who was shaking.

It was quiet in the apartment, the only noise coming from the soft splashing of the water in the aquarium, Naria and Eriya watching the brothers in silence. 

"Are your mother and father still in the city?" Van finally asked, his voice shaking and his hands clutching Folken's shirt desperately, the cold metal of the prothesis grazing his skin.

"Yes, our parents are still here. Do you want to visit them?" he replied and it was as if it took ages for Van to nod, his head suddenly unbelievably heavy. 

                                                                                                             ~´´``~                     

People were noisily walking past the slim, yellow telephone booth which was covered with advertisement from bottom to top, their voices slightly muffled. It was just one of hundred telephone booths in this city, the cabin offering just enough space for one person. With a sigh, a young man leaned against the glass of the door, the black receiver pressed against his ear. He closed his bright blue eyes and ran a hand through his hair, waiting for someone to answer his call.

It had begun again. This feeling of anticipation and restlessness was washing through Allen again like it had done fourteen years ago, after the death of his father. He had desperately tried to break through the walls of lies and corruption which had surrounded the truth about the car accident, the diary of his father helping him to find the tracks. It had led him to the front doors of Dornkirk Inc. but he hadn't come any further. He had lost the track there and hadn't found it again. He had thought it was over – until some days ago.

Unconsciously, his hands closed around the small leather book in the pocket of his pants. His father had been about to find out something incredible. Allen remembered the time faintly, when his father had returned home and had told him that soon everything would be over. He had left that evening and had never returned home. What a coincidence! And fourteen years later, Allen met the one his father had seen as the key for everything by pure chance, at a festival in the city. Vargas Maradha.

He had been too shocked to react but he would catch up now. It seemed as if the chase had started once more. The only problem was that he didn't know what the scarred man had done at the park and who the boy at his side had been. But it wouldn't take too long to find out for there were ways and means and he had his sources.

"Hello?"

Allen blinked in surprise and straightened, a female and slightly exhausted voice that reached him through the receiver startling him out of his thoughts. "Yeah, this is Allen Schezar," he replied and scratched the back of his head. "Can I speak with Hitomi, please?"

"Er...speaking," the green-eyed girl answered, still panting from her run from the garden and sat onto one of the wooden chairs in the kitchen. Merle and her had grilled their luxury bodies in the sun while listening to music. Well, Merle had grilled her enviably tanned skin and Hitomi hat sat grumbling in the shadow of a sunshade but that was another story. What did Allen want?

"Hi Hitomi," the blond-haired man said with a smile and braced his hand against the glass of the telephone booth. "Do you remember me? Amano dragged me along to the festival in the park."

"Yeah, of course, I remember," Hitomi replied, slightly confused, and a deep frown appeared on her forehead. "What can I do for you?"

Allen smiled even wider. "A lot," he stated and as if on command, heat streamed into the sandy-blonde's cheeks. "I really enjoyed the time with you and I wanted to ask if we could  repeat that?"

"Repeat?" she echoed and her delicate brows shot up in surprise and shock.

The blue-eyed man chuckled and ran a hand through his hair. "Yes, repeat," he confirmed. "I want to see you again, Hitomi. What about we meet sometime within the next days?"

"I-I..." Hitomi stuttered and shook her head. Allen Schezar was asking her out? "Why?"

The blond-haired man threw his head back and laughed loudly, making Hitomi frown even more. "Why not?" he asked back, his lips twitching and a mischievous sparkle in his cerulean orbs. "But if you don't want to meet me, it's okay. I'll eventually grow to live with your refusal though it would really --"

"No no," the green-eyed girl interupted him and frantically rubbed her forehead, her heart beating madly against her ribs. "W-we decided to go to the theatre, tomorrow. You could join us if you'd like to." 

"We?" Allen replied curiously. "Who is we?"

"Oh...well, Yukari and Amano, my cousin Merle and Van," Hitomi answered, fanning her face with her free hand. She knew that her cheeks were on fire and she hated herself therefore. Gods, it was only a conversation via telephone! "You met him at the festival, remember? You and Amano were searching for Van and me."

Allen's brows shot up in surprise. "Yeah, I remember," he said and closed his left hand around his father's diary. "And yeah, I really would like to join you."

"Fine!" the sandy-blonde replied and rose from the chair. "Tomorrow, around eight in the evening in front of the _New Theatre_, is that okay with you?"   

"Of course!" Allen exclaimed and smiled. "See you then?"

"Yeah, see you, Allen," Hitomi said, the fingers of her left hand tangling themselves in the coiled flex of the receiver without her noticing.

"Thanks again and bye." 

And with that, Allen replaced the receiver and a metal clicking told him that the automat had swallowed his money. His lips turned into a smile when he opened the glass door of the phone booth and entered the warm and noisy sidewalk. It had turned out better than he had expected. Not only would he meet Hitomi but also the unknown young man who had been Vargas' company.

So then, there was only one thing left to do before he would go back to university. He would pay someone a visit, someone he hadn't seen for quite some time. It would be the first step to go into the case of his father's death again. Celena didn't know, of course. She would chop off his head if she knew. She had never liked the fact of him continuing their father's work but he couldn't just close his eyes when the lost tracks suddenly appeared right in front of his nose and pretend not to see them, could he?

Allen winked back at the young woman with the short black hair who had cockily grinned at him and descended the steps that led down to the station of the suburban railway. It would bring him to the housing estates at the outer parts of the city. At this time of the day, the station was close to being empty for most people were working. It was plain suicide to go by railway in the afternoon and in the morning; all the commuters were streaming out of or into the city then, flooding the freight cars. 

The young man spent the short journey with reading the newspaper of the man who sat in front of him. It was the same newspaper he read every morning and he finished reading the article, he hadn't been able to finish during breakfast for his sister had insisted that he helped her cleaning the apartment. He admitted with a sheepish grin that he had made quite a mess while searching for his father's diary.

The fresh and silent air which was typical of the suburbs greeted him when he exited the freight car. It was so different; no loud conversations, no hooting of cars and roaring of engines, the humming of the cicades almost deafening.

His destination was only five minutes away by feet, a white little house with a red roof, hidden between innumerable other houses that looked almost the same. A black cat watched him curiously from a small wall when he entered the drive of number 156a, green eyes narrowed to thin slits. Without hesitating, he rang the bell but released the breath he had been holding since he had reached this street, his heart beating fast in anticipation. Yes, he couldn't deny that he was excited.

The light click of the door being opened a bit woke him from his thoughts, and Allen was surprised to see a mop of blond hair appear, the bright blue eyes of a little boy glancing him up and down from out of the shadows in the corridor. Before Allen could open his mouth and say something, the door was slammed shut again. He blinked in confusion but smiled when he heard the boy's childish voice echo throughout the house.

"Mommy, there is a man at the door!"

Allen shook his head with a sigh and ran a nervous hand through his hair. It wasn't long until the door was opened a second time, revealing a young woman with long, ash-blond hair framing her beautiful features and the little boy clinging to her legs. Her ocean-blue eyes widened in shock when she spotted the stranger at the door.    

"Hello, Eries, it's been a long time."      

                                                                                                             ~´´``~

With a soft click, the slim, black mobile phone sprang open and a pale finger pushed the _1._ A number was dialed automatically, a number the young man didn't know. A number he could only use once. Next time, he tried to dial this number he would only reach a friendly, electronical voice which told him that the number he had called was not available. Ten of those numbers were stored up in this mobile phone, each of them to reach the same person. And when he had used up all of them, he would get a new mobile phone. 

It rang three times until someone picked up. This someone never spoke first.

"You were right," Dilandau said, leaning with his back against the wall beside a flower shop, the foliage of a linden tree blocking him from the sun. "He went to find his brother and now, they're on their way to visit their parents. Stupid little boy."

"Are you sure it's him and his brother?" Dornkirk's cold voice asked and Dilandau looked up, red eyes scanning the sidewalks from behind the sunglasses.

With a quick motion, the albino lifted the camera that hung around his neck and took a photo of the façade of one of the houses across the street, before he focused the expensive lens on two men who were walking along the sidewalk.

"Yes, no doubt," he finally answered the question, letting the camera sink. "He looks exactly like on the photo and he even has got the backpack. The man beside him is according to his application documents Folken Lacour de Fanel. If that's enough of a proof for you." 

"Yes, it is," Dornkirk replied slowly.

"Are my instructions going to be extended?" Dilandau questioned and left his position at the wall, joining the stream of people on the sidewalk and glancing at the other side of the street every now and then.  

It was quiet for a long time and the young man bought a newspaper at a stand along the way. The woman who sold there inspected him briefly with blunt curiosity, before she turned away again to chat with the man in the dark-blue suit who drank his coffee right beside Dilandau.

"No," Dornkirk answered finally and Dilandau sighed in clear disappointment.

"Does my job end then?" the red eyed man asked, still following the two men who were now walking along a huge wall at the other side of the street.

"No!" Dornkirk replied quickly and Dilandau's brows rose in surprise. "No, your instructions remain. You keep on watching them and hand in a detailed report about everything that happened concerning the subject, every day." 

Dilandau closed his pale fingers around the mobile phone and groaned, running his free hand over his face. There was nothing he hated more than handing in 'detailed' reports. It meant sitting in front of his computer for the whole evening, typing his fingers sore until his eyes watered. And that for as long as Dornkirk thought it was necessary. That was going to be an exciting job, oh yeah. He could feel it in his fingertips.

"This is the perfect opportunity to study its behavior in the outside world," Dornkirk whispered quietly, more to himself than to Dilandau and the albino knew it. A hoarse, little chuckle followed the silence and it was one of the rare things on this planet that was able to send a shiver down Dilandau's spine.

"Is there anything else?" the silver-haired man asked, not wanting anything more than just to end this conversation.

"No," the voice in the mobile phone replied, slightly startled. "And remember to be careful, Dilandau."

"Of course," Dilandau said with a tired look on his face and the connection was cut immediately.

Grumbling, he stuffed the mobile phone back into the inside pocket of his jacket. As if he was a kid and didn't know how to take care of himself. Be careful, Dilandau. As if he was never careful. When there was something between heaven and earth that Dilandau Albatou cherished like nothing else, then it was his life. And he wouldn't do mankind the favour of leaving before his time.

A huge grin plastered across his face and hands stuffed in the pockets of his pants, the young man crossed the street and followed his two victims around a corner. When he thought about it, he had never met Dornkirk in real. He had only spoken with the image on the video phone and it was quite some time since he had joined the illustrious little community of Dornkirk Inc. Not voluntarily, just as an information. And he remembered that day as if it was yesterday.

It would have been the crown of his dubious career as a professional thief. The Dornkirk Inc. sanctuaries. He hadn't intended to steal anything, he had only wanted to enjoy the satisfaction of outwitting their security system. Well, he had managed it but unfortunately, he hadn't been able to resist his curiosity and had found the lab under the skyscraper as well. And that was where his journey had ended.

Dilandau could be thankful that Dr. Isaac Dornkirk had been impressed by his abilities and had thought that it would be a great waste to have the boy getting mouldy in the jail. And since then, he had done various jobs, some more or less illegal than other ones.

When he adjusted his cap, Dilandau saw the two men turn to the left and enter the park which was surrounded by the wall. With a sigh, he quickened his pace and followed them.

The round, white pebbles which covered the ground crunched softly under their boots when they walked along the path that led their way in silence. The trees around them rustled quietly, the warm breeze that was following the two men making the limp branches of a weeping willow sway like braided tresses. 

The wind made Folken's hair swirl wildly around his head and he glanced down at his little brother out of the corners of his eyes, his mind oddly numb. The young man at his side had his gaze directed to the ground, auburn eyes hidden behind lively strands of raven-black hair. Though the sun was burning down on him, he couldn't feel the warmth, his inside frozen and making him shudder. 

He only looked up when he heard a noise that was different from the rustling and whispering around him. Quiet sobs. His eyes found those of a little girl who was walking towards him, a bunch of white lilies pressed to her chest with her small left hand and her right hand vanishing in the huge one of the man beside her. Dull blue eyes were drowning in an ocean of tears, her pale cheeks wet from crying. She was looking right at Van when they were passing by but the young man didn't turn to look back at her, his eyes unreadable.

Folken led him past a group of old trees and the shadows created strange patterns on their bodies. It was when he stopped, a huge meadow ahead of them.

"We arrived," he announced quietly, looking at his brother.

And time seemed to slow down when Van lifted his head, the wind increasing. It was a beautiful marble stone, the smooth surface sparkling in different shades of grey, mixed with white. A single bunch of white flowers lay lonely at its base, the petals moving in the breeze.

_                                                                                                    Goau and Varie Fanel_

_                                                                                               Beloved parents and friends_

_                                                                                    "You lightened my life and I'll be eternally _

_                                                                                    grateful for every minute I was allowed to _

_                                                                                                      spend with you." _

"These are the words dad had said before he had died," Folken explained quietly, a sad but loving smile on his lips, his gaze focused on the gravestone. "Mom had held his hand until the last second and even longer. He had smiled brightly at both of us as if everything was alright."

Soundlessly, Van fell to his knees and dug his fingers into the dry earth that covered the grave. A weak fire was flickering within his burgundy depths, like the flame of a candle in a draught which was about to be extinguished at any second.

"How did they die?" he asked, his own broken voice strange to his ears.

Folken glanced down at Van's kneeling figure before he answered. "Dad died from cancer, eleven years ago," he said quietly and looked at the grave again. "Nobody had noticed it, not even dad himself. He had been totally healthy and fit but one day...it was as if his body had lost its strength within the blink of an eye. He never recovered from the breakdown and the doctors said it was too late for help. He died five weeks later."

"And...and...?" Van bit his lip and closed his eyes. He couldn't say the word, he simply couldn't.

"Mom fell ill, one and a half years later," the brown-eyed man continued, seeing Van struggle with the question. "I was at college when it happened and I was told that it had been a simple flu which had killed her. She had never really overcome your death. She had reproached herself though we always told her that it hadn't been her fault. Then, dad had died and I went to college...she had been too weak to keep on fighting. She had even apologized for dying on me when I visited her in the hospital."

"I wished I could have met them," the raven-haired youth pressed through gritted teeth and dug his fingers even deeper into the earth, his eyes still closed. "If it was just for a few seconds, a glance would have been enough."

"They were wonderful people," Folken stated and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "They even wanted to be close to you after their death. Look."           

Van opened his eyes, the sunlight twinkling through his eyelashes and blinding him. Strands of unruly hair danced in his view and his auburn orbs widened when he spotted the tiny grave right beside the one of his parents. It was so small that he had simply overseen it. Lush green ivy entwined itself around the dark gravestone, slim wooden fingers holding it in a tight and protective embrace. A name was engraved between a pair of fragile wings. His name.

_                                                                                                            Van Fanel_

_                                                                                                           Our Angel_

_                                                                                              "And even if we never met you, _

_                                                                                              we love you from the bottom of _

_                                                                                           our hearts and always will love you. _

_                                                                                                     Never forget that."_   

Van had never cried. As far as he could remember, he had never cried, not even when he had been a kid. Neither because of pain during one of the innumerable tests, nor because of being scolded or yelled at for having done something wrong once again. Not because of one of the people at the lab, not because of being alone.

And it was as if all his strength left him when he felt something wet tickle down his cheek, shattering all the walls around him. And there, at the grave of two strangers, he could do nothing but finally let go of everything that was burdening his soul; let go and just be the weak little boy he had always wanted to be. Folken kneeled down beside him and placed a gentle hand on his shaking shoulder but he didn't notice. 

The trees around them whispered quietly in a language that was as old as Earth itself when a light breeze rustled through their sunlit foliage, fresh leaves sparkling in every shade of lush green. The wind breathed life into those ones which had already fallen down and covered now the ground, lifting them to make them perform their last dance to a beautiful melody that couldn't been heard while the warm colours of summer framed a sad family portrait. 

Tbc...

                                                                                                             ~´´``~

Thanks to my dear reviewers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**Ryuu Angel: **O_o You wrote that review at what time of the night??? *shakes head* Incredible! *grins like mad* But I'm glad you liked it!!! *jumps around* And muahahaha!!! You barefooted in a lab would be quite a sight :P Not Bigfoot but Barefoot!! Muahahaha!!! Hmm, the elevator thingy *scratchs head* I knew it was confusing. But it means that: Van's room is on the 13th floor (under the earth) and Vargas' office is at the second floor and for the elevator only stops at these two floors (as a security measure) and it neither showed a 13 nor 2 it meant that it was stuck between the floors. *sings* Confusing, I know u_u And oh yeah, I feel with Hitomi here. Remember what I told you about New Year's Eve? T___________T And oh yes, please!! Feel free to draw the fountain whenever you feel like it ^___________^ And gods, you can't imagine how often I had this "What if I had...?" phase!! *shakes head* Terrible!! It's so horrible to think about that later on and you just want to kick yourself and scream "Why didn't I do it?" I'm quite the expert, you see u_u But ouch!! I guess, you don't like Dornkirk :P I don't like him either!! Hah!! The fossil!! Bwahaha!! And yep, that review was definitely ryuu-ish *grins that her cheeks hurt and hugs you rainbow-ishly* And lol, I love the number of your cloud *wink wink* Aye, hope you liked it again and thanks for the suggest with the coin!!! It helped me a lot!! *hugs you wildly* Thank youuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!!!!****

**Spirit0: ***snorts* You get out of school early coz of snow??!! How much did it snow?? Three metres?? Should it happen that it snows here we're not allowed to go earlier!! The school yard can be one ice-covered slide where you have to fear for your life but noooooooo, pupils can also learn with a sore butt!!! *grumbles* And what? You don't believe in true love?  No no, I do not think that you're weird (everyone can have their opinion, remember :P) and I'm the last person to ask about love matters, believe me, but it would be a quite sad world if there wasn't such a thing as true love, wouldn't it?! Well, this is my opinion. One of the things I believe in ^_^ Hehe, and I'm glad you though like the story :P Thanks!!!!

**TennyoAngel711: ***pat pat* No no, not your fault that you're sick! I hate being sick! Bah!!! Hehe, but there you had the brotherly moment!!! Liked it? And hah, yesyes, Dryden!! Just love the guy!!! ^_^ Well well, thanks for the review and good luck with your fic!!!!

**(     ): ***grins* Thanks!!! And theeeeeeeeere is Folken!! Hope ya liked it!!!

**Anime Monkey: ***bows to the floor* Thank you ^____^ And sorries, but update before Christmas was not possible!! Blame the school!!!

**Kayo: **Hey, cool!!!! *grins insanely* The music matched sometimes!!! ^_^ And aye, thanks for telling me about the violant-thingy!! That's one of the mistakes I always make!! *snorts* Now, I have to print my whole report for English again coz I wrote "violant" there T_T Just because I'm too lazy to look into the dictionary!! Oh well...but hey, I'm glad you liked it ^_^ Lol, Tomi the evil wench!! Tell me, why don't you like her?? I'm just curious ^_^ Haha. Yep, Escaflowne is broadcasted here on MTV2 after MTV stopped broadcasting it ^_^ I can't complain!! And aye!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A Van plush!!!! *grabs Van plush and hugs the poor thing almost to death* Wait...do plushs live?? Nah, in Dariel's lil la-la-land, everything is possible!! ^_^ Thanks a lot and did you feel the urge to reread it??!! ^_________________________^

**Talker: ***sighs* I know, nothing biggie but development does need its time ^_^ I'm glad you're patient with me!! Thanx!

**loverwren:** *pulls down curtain* And here is Dilly!!!!!!!!! Yep, he is there, in person ^_^ But see, he wasn't dangerous or anything...just watching. Glad you liked it and thank you!!!

**dawnsama: ***grins* Oh yes, our beloved Dilly boy!! ^_^ And yeah, as long as I have ideas and time, I won't drop this ^_^ Thanks!!

**dilanda:** *hides under a stone, in a hole behind a wall, far far away from you* Sorries!!!! But it's just so tempting to stop there :P Thanks for bearing me!!

**NeverEndingQuest: ***blushs* Thank you!! Hope you liked it again!!

**SabineballZ: ***geht vor all den Fragen in Deckung* Sieht so aus als konnt' ich sie diesmal alle beantworten, nicht oder?! ^_^ Freut mich wenn du dich freust!!! Ich hoffe deinem Bruder geht's besser!!! *Daumen drück* Danke!!!!!!!!

**Starry Eyed Wonder: ***grins widely* Gosh, girl!!! You really have some time to read!! And places!! ^__________^ I feel honoured!!!!! But what?? You have a walk-in closet??? *sobs* I soo love them!!!! But I have none u_u *blushs like crazy* I'm glad you liked it!!! ^______________________^ Makes me happy, you know?! Lol, in Latin we got the task to define happiness. Ever tried to define happiness?? It's really interesting!! Escpecially the part with infecting other people with happiness. Though it does not always work ^_^ *chuckles* Oh yes, Dryden!! I love the guy, too ^_____________^ Hehe, hope you liked it again and I'm looking forward to being honoured by you again *hugs you that your face is all colourful* Thanks so much!!!!****

**Esca-lover: ***blushs hard* Thank you!!! So, confusing sentences, huh?! If you tell me that I made mistakes or left something unclear and don't tell me where, I can't change it and will probably make the mistake again!!! NYAR!! *tears hair* But okay, I'm calm like a bear. And YES, it is indeed sad that you haven't updated for that long!!! *waves "I'm an Esca-lover fan" flag* ^_____________________________^

**jasper-isis: ***grins and bows* Glad you liked it!! *scratchs head* But hah, sometimes I fear that I could lose Van and Tomi in the bunch of side stories which I'm spinning in that crazy lil head of mine ^_^

**Aylee the Dragon: ***grins helplessly and blushs like mad* Thank you!!! *glomps* ^____________^ Hah, yeah, thought of writing a book and if I ever should do it, I'll email you ^_^ Promise!! Hehe, see, you were right about Dornkirk searching for Van ^_^ And oh yes, please!!!!!!!!! Gimme a Van!!! *drools* To darn hot to be real!! *sobs*  

**darkcherry: ***grins* Thank you!!! And P.S. You're not weird :P

**ponchita: ***blushs like mad* Thanks!!!!!! And hmm, must think of the competition thing *wink wink*

**Draco: ***bows to the floor* I do feel honoured!!! ^___________^ And uh, it's a very very belated Christmas gift, isn't it *sweatdrops* Thank you!!

**dreamingofflyingaway:** No no, I thank you *grins that her cheeks hurt* 

**Storm_warrior_91: **^______________________________^ *joins your dancing* Thankiez!!!!!!!

**ShiAne: **Lol, Dilly boy scares you?! Well, he wasn't that scaring after all, was he? :P And megosh *blushs like mad* Thanks!!!!!! I'm glad you like it!!! ^______^ Hope you had wonderful Christmas, too!! 

**Smiles-Anonymous: ***grins* Thank you!!

**Kathy: ***blushs* Thanks!!

**Asahane: **^_^ Thank you and yep, I will!!

**A/N: ***wipes brow* Okay, chapter 8 done and it cost me quite some nerve!! *snorts* And because my graduation isn't that far away anymore and those stupid exams are near, I'll have to learn more and update less T_____T Hope you liked it and have patience ^_^ Thanks.

Till next chapter,

Dariel


	9. Heartbeat of the night

Chapter 9   Heartbeat of the night

She squatted on the parquet floor of her living room, the lilac coloured dress that clung delicately to her fragile form crumpling in a heap of silky folds at her feet. Long, ash-blond hair hung smoothly down her back, highlighted by the sunlight which fell lazily through the huge windows at the gable-end of the room. Dust swirled along the sunbeams that threw a warm light against the walls, distorted patterns dancing gracefully across the ceiling where the light was reflected on the smooth surface of a glass filled with clear water.

He watched her intently, watched her every move. He watched her holding her little sons tiny hands in her own delicate ones, watched the way she smiled brightly up at the blue-eyed boy, a dimple visible at the corner of her mouth. She had grown since he had last seen her, not physically but in a way that created an ever-present aura of self-confidence and grace around her.

"Mommy, who is the man?" the little boy asked with a childish voice and a huge frown on his features, glancing at Allen out of the corners of his eyes.

"Nobody of your interest," Eries replied with a sigh and touched her son's snub nose with her index finger. "Now, go up into your room and be a good boy."

"But mom!" he whined but Eries shook her head no, knowing just too well where that all would lead; give him the little finger and he will take the whole hand. He was just an angel on the outside but a little devil through and through.

"No, Chid," the young woman said seriously, her eyes shining with determination. "I have some things to discuss with the man over there and this isn't meant for your ears."

"Fine," Chid grumbled in surrender. "Leave me out of the matters of adults."

Eries grinned and ruffled his short, blond locks, making a displeased grunt erupt from his lips, his little hands trying to swat her one away as if she was an annoying fly. He turned to stomp away in the typical spoiled brat fashion but not without giving Allen a long stare and a small smile, causing the young journalist to raise his brows in surprise.

"I didn't know you had got a son," Allen stated matter-of-factly, after Chid was gone, and leaned back against the soft leather couch, his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Eries rose elegantly from her squatting position on the ground, the fabric of her dress moving around her like waves on a lilac sea. "What do you want?" she replied flatly, the soft expression, with which she had watched her son, gone as if it had never existed at all.

"Now, we're being the frank one, aren't we?" the blue-eyed man countered and watched Eries take a seat in the easy chair opposite to him, a glass table that was scattered with various magazines separating them. "I'm here to talk about old times."

The young woman bit her lip and averted her gaze, avoiding to look him in the eye. "I thought you gave up on it," she said, her voice no more than a whisper.

"I never gave up," Allen explained just as quietly and Eries looked up, locking her pale, blue eyes with his ones. "I just lost the track and was kind of frustrated. I threw it all away because I've come to a dead end."

"Mind asking what suddenly made you dig it up again?" the ash-blond woman questioned, her hands resting calmly in her lap. "To tell the truth, I didn't exactly expect you to knock at my door ever again." 

A wry smile graced Allen's lips and he absently watched a few small air bubbles gather at the bottom of the glass that stood on the table between them, before they danced towards the surface of the soda.

"These tracks I have been following, vanished right on the doorstep of Dornkirk Inc.," he answered and his smile even grew. "Let's just say that they appeared right there again and I can continue where I stopped."

"Why do you continue in the first place?" Eries replied vividly, an almost angry edge in her voice, and looked him directly in the eye. "Why don't you just let it rest?"

"Let it rest?!" Allen shouted and almost bolted from the couch, his eyes blazing with a cold fire. "Damn, Eries, you already sound like my sister! Why should I stop it? Why should I stop searching for the truth?"

"I can let it rest!" the blue-eyed woman barked and clenched her fists to stop them from shaking because of her anger. "Why can't you?"

"Because I can't live with that lie!" the blond-haired man yelled and rose from the couch, silencing Eries with a gruff sweep of his hand when he saw her opening her mouth to probably contradict. "Don't say it! I know what you're going to tell me and I can't understand it! I can't understand why you refuse to accept it! It wasn't a goddamn accident, Eries!"

"Allen, don't start with this again!" Eries shouted back, rising from her seat as well and glaring at him over the table. "I've had enough of this!"

"Are you blind or what?!" Allen exclaimed, his brows narrowed in annoyance. "You of all people should believe me for it was your sister who died together with my father, fourteen years ago! Marlene worked at Dornkirk Inc. and she knew something! She told my father that night and therefore they both had to die!"

"Allen, you're paranoid and I--" she started but he interupted her by giving a bitter laugh.

"I'm paranoid?" he echoed and a dangerous smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "Well then, you might be able to tell me why they didn't say who was the unidentified woman who was with my father when the car went over the cliff! Tell me, why they tried to hide Marlene's identity!"

She bit her lip again and Allen grinned in satisfaction. "What? No answer?" he mocked and Eries' fingers twitched. "They did it because they didn't want to have one of the most important employees at Dornkirk Inc. killed in a myserious car accident!"

Eries was quiet, her hands balled to fists at her sides.

"Marlene knew something and I want to know what it was!" he insisted vividly and the woman in front of him glared back at him with angry eyes.

"Stop it!" she finally shouted, outraged. "Those people are dangerous!"

"I already know that and I'm sure that you know exactly why Marlene had to die!" Allen replied and pointed a long finger at her. "Tell me!" 

Eries' eyes widened for a moment and she opened her mouth, only to close it again when no words came out. Why pretending if he already knew? "I can't," she whispered with her head turned away so to not face his piercing blue eyes.

"Why not?" he replied, exasperated and tired. "Would they hurt you? Or your little son? Is that what you fear?"

"No," the young woman answered and shook her head, ash-blond hair swaying softly. "They stopped connecting me, the day you left and never returned. I've lived an ordinary life since then, you could say, and they don't even know about Chid. They can't use him as a means for keeping me quiet - but my sister."

A frown appeared on Allen's features and he was about to ask her when she spoke for herself. "They would do something to Millerna," she explained quietly, her eyes focused on the floor and her fists clenched at her sides. "She's following in Marlene's footsteps, Allen...Millerna's working at Dornkirk Inc."

His blue eyes widened to the limit and his mouth fell open when her words reached him. An expression of shock and disbelieve was written across his face, his hands falling limply to his sides.

"Mommy...?" a shy, childish voice asked tentatively and Eries turned to face Chid who stood in the doorframe, clear eyes focused questioningly on her and blond curls dishevelled. "Why did you scream?"

She smiled sadly at him and motioned with her hand. "Go into the kitchen, honey," she said softly and the blond-haired boy bit his lip. "I'll explain to you in a few minutes."

Chid nodded and quietly walked away, leaving his mother and Allen in complete silence. Not even the noise of the cicades reached them in the living room, Eries turned away from him and Allen staring at her back.

"Mind telling me the name of his father?" Allen asked and saw Eries hug herself tightly.

"This is unimportant for his father doesn't even know about him," she answered, her voice oddly strained. "Will you promise me to stop this research? Let it rest...please."

She was still not facing him and she couldn't see his expression as well as he couldn't see her one, an ocean seeming to separate them at that very minute when a deafening silence engulfed them once more. When he finally spoke, the words were like a heavy stone dropped into a calm lake.

"I can't." 

                 ~´´``~

Night had settled over the streets, a dim light covering the city like a transparent cloak where only the brightest stars could fight their way through. The warmth of the day still hovered within the gorges between the skyscrapers, not able to leave its glassy prison. The air was filled with the sounds of engines humming along the streets and the conversations of the people who were enjoying this warm Friday evening.

A tram rattled noisily past the main entrance of the _New Theatre_ when the clean glass doors swung open and a stream of people poured out onto the sidewalk, laughs and chuckles echoing into the dark skies.

"You have to compliment a woman on how she looks within the first thirty seconds of a date, or you're dead," a young woman with red hair that sparkled like a prism in the glowing light of the theatre's nameplate stated and clutched her stomach when she burst out laughing. "Are we really that bad?"

Amano stopped by her side and looked at her, running a hand through his brown hair with a suspicious expression on his face. "This is a catch question, isn't it?!" he replied warily and looked up in surprise when he felt someone nudge his arm.

"It's such a cliché," Merle stated and her bright blue eyes sparkled at him in the light of the night, her tan even darker.

"But so true!" Yukari interfered and burst into fits of chuckles again, Merle joining her with a wide grin. Amano just sighed in defeat when both girls began to quote from the play they had just watched; _Defending the Caveman_.

The young man turned around and spotted the remaining three members of their little group fight their way through the mass of chatting people in front of the theatre. Hitomi brushed a strand of honey-blond hair out of her face when she smiled hesitantly up at Allen who was telling her something that made his eyes glow, Van walking silently beside them, his hands casually in the pockets of his pants and his eyes focused on a spot far away.

Amano rolled his eyes at them when they reached him, Yukari and Merle engrossed in the competition they had just picked, throwing quotations from the play at each other only to burst out laughing simultanuously. 

"What did he say about men generally speaking 2000 words a day and women 7000?" the brown-eyed man questioned and glanced at his girlfriend and Merle who were laughing their heads off and catching quite some attention in the process.

"A man, a word. A woman, a dictionary," Hitomi replied with a shrug and a grin, making Amano and Allen chuckle. "We just can't help it." 

"Hey, what are you guys laughing about?" Merle asked with her hands on her hips and Yukari still giggling beside her, blue eyes dancing with laughter. "I want to join!"

"Nah, you laughed enough for the next two months," Amano stated and patted Merle's head affectionately as if she were a cat, before he strolled at Yukari's side and slid an arm smugly around her waist, his lips curled into a smirk. "Hey, wife, I'm hungry. What about we go grab something to eat?"

"Sounds like a good idea to me, husband," the redhead answered and wiped tears of mirth from the corners of her eyes, leaning lazily against his side, Amano kissing the top of her head gently. "Do you guys agree?"

"Course, we do!" Merle cheered and with her pink hair flying, she bounced towards Van who stood a bit aside, head tilted backwards and eyes focused on the almost empty nightsky. "Come on, Van, I know the best place to go! The evening is still young!"

Yukari grinned and sliding her arm around Amano, she followed in Merle's bubbly wake along the sidewalks. A warm breeze swept over the paved ground and dishevelled Hitomi's short hair, her bright green eyes following the the four friends who were about to mingle with the people on the streets. 

"Let's go," Allen suggested beside her, smiling down at the young woman, and the breeze ruffled through his long, blond hair as well.

"Okay," Hitomi replied in a whisper and left the entrance of the theatre to a place only known to Merle.

She was quiet when she walked at Allen's side, watching the couples ahead of her through swaying sandy-blond strands of hair with a tinge of jealousy. So yeah, Yukari and Amano were a perfect couple but what could she do? If she looked up the word 'lovebirds' in a dictionary, she sure would find the both of them grinning at her from a photograph. She was slowly getting used to the fact that they were reminding her of her non-existent love life, every damn time she saw them.

And then, there was Van. She sighed and shook her head, her eyes never leaving his tall form. Hitomi could feel her insides turn into a knot at the sight of Merle being so close to him; her insides had been in this current knot-state throughout the whole evening. She knew that it was plain jealousy – and she felt like tearing her hair out until she was bald because of it.

It was frustrating and confusing for crying out loud! She didn't even know him! He just happened to burst into her life and her body suddenly felt the urge to act all hormonic around him, as if it had just waited for a chance like that! She couldn't explain it. It was so stupid and unlogical...it was just...was just –-

"Hitomi?" 

Her head snapped up and her confused, green eyes met Allen, a concerned expression on his handsome face though slight amusement twinkling in his cerulean orbs. That just wasn't her day. 

He was a reason of utter confusion as well. Hitomi wasn't the one to jump to conclusions but she had this uncomfortable feeling that he had been searching her company the whole time, her heart missing a beat at the thought.

"You okay?" he asked with this deep voice of his, frown still plastered across his features.

"Of course," the young woman replied and directed her eyes back to the mop of black hair that was Van's only to dart to the dark shop window to her right, to a streetlamp that created an island of pale orange in the dark of the night, to Yukari and Amano kissing, to Van's broad back – was it just her or had her eyes their own will? "Why shouldn't I be okay?"    

"Well, I've tried to get your attention since we passed the last traffic light which is quite some minutes behind us," Allen drawled and watched with a grin Hitomi's pale cheeks turn slightly pink. "You seemed distracted."

"I was just thinking," she stated and turned her gaze away from him, green eyes closed. 

"I see," the blue-eyed man replied smugly and turned to look at the people around them, a small smile on his lips. "I must say, I'm really glad that you invited me to join you. I would have probably spent this evening with drowning in work and being pestered by my sister if I had stayed at home."

Hitomi glanced at him out of the corners of her eyes and smiled wistfully. "So, you did like the play?" she asked, her hair sparkling in the light of the streetlamps. "I wasn't so sure about it. Some friends said it was great and I thought it would be a good idea to go watch it." She shrugged.

"Yeah, it truly was great," Allen agreed and motioned with a nod of his head towards their friends who were walking ahead, the pink-haired girl hopping around Van with laughter in her eyes. "Merle is still quoting, it seems. Poor Van," he tilted his head to the side, his cerulean orbs sparkling with curiosity. Now or never. "May I ask who he is? I didn't even got to know his complete name."

The honey-blonde looked at Allen with surprise but only found this expression of curiosity on his features that made her wonder if it was the journalist in Allen who surfaced. "To tell the truth, I don't know a lot about him either," Hitomi answered with a frustrated sigh. "His name is Van Fanel and I met him some days ago in the restaurant. We kind of bumped into each other or better to say, I bumped into the door he opened."

"Van Fanel," Allen repeated quietly and with an unreadable expression on is features, he watched the raven-haired youth who was walking a few meters ahead. "Do you --"

"Amano, you idiot!" Yukari's vivid voice suddenly interupted him and the both of them looked up, watching with raised brows the redhead hitting her boyfriend who only chuckled harder.

A deep snarl escaped her throat and she turned away with a pout, sticking her nose high in the air and stalking over to Hitomi. "Come on, Hitomi," she commanded and grabbed the green-eyed girl's arm, yanking her away from Allen. "Guys are stupid and I'll rescue you out of your misery."  

Hitomi smiled apologetically at the blond-haired man and stumbled along the sidewalk behind Yukari who was dragging her away from the two men. "What happened?" she asked when the redhead slowed down and turned around to glance back at Amano.

"He was being an asshole, as usual," Yukari replied with a shrug and hopped over an empty tin that lay on the paved ground. "You okay, 'Tomi?"

The sandy-blonde blinked, slightly startled, and looked at her friend with a raised brow. "Yes, of course," she answered warily. "Why shouldn't I be? And why is everyone asking me that?"

"I don't know and I actually hoped you could tell me," the young woman stated and turned to look at Hitomi, her head cocked to the side and her brown eyes sparkling with something that promised Hitomi she wouldn't like what would come next. "You were quite distracted and sometimes even sad I think. I noticed that you were watching him the whole time, Hitomi."

Her heart skipped a beat and she quickly turned away from her friend, trying to hide her blush. "I don't know what you're talking about," she replied flatly and stubbornly fixed her eyes on the cars that were speeding by, red rear lights fading in the distance.

"You've always been a bad liar," Yukari drawled with a smirk on her features, her eyes never leaving Hitomi's form. "I'd suggest that you hurry up or Merle will be faster than you."

Hitomi bit her lip, not able to stop the light grin from tugging at the corners of her lips. Yukari had always been able to read her like a book. Sure, the girl could be quite a pain in the neck and could beat every mule concerning stubborness but she knew what was on Hitomi's mind without asking a single question. Yukari was never accusing her but always understood and therefore Hitomi was grateful.

"I'm not playing in his league," Hitomi replied quietly and looked up, her eyes instantly resting on Van's back.

The redhead beside her gave a frustrated sigh. "Did you even try?" she questioned, her delicate brows knitted in slight anger and Hitomi's silence was answer enough. "Geez, Hitomi, how often do I need to tell you this? If you wait for guys to take the first step, you'll wait till you're old and wrinkled! They would never admit it but they're horribly shy. Look at Amano and me; if I hadn't forced him to go out with me, we wouldn't be together, now!"

Hitomi grinned when Yukari shrugged casually and stuffed her hands in her pockets. "All cool and macho on the outside but when it comes to ask a girl out, they're worse than you."

"But they mustn't be worse than me!" Hitomi whined, tearing her hair and Yukari rolled her eyes. "They are supposed to ask me and not the other way round!"

"Where are you living?" the redhead questioned and eyed the green-eyed girl. "In the seventeenth century without current and running water?"

"Yes," she replied, growling.

"You're a big girl, 'Tomi," Yukari sighed. "Just go and mount your own horse."

Hitomi remained silent, glaring at her friend out of the corners of her eyes, knowing that she was right. She was always right. Damn.

It was when she noticed where Merle had led them; down to the bank of the river which was winding its way through the city, past skyscrapers and four-lane highways, with risky constructions of steel spanning the width of the waters in an almost thoughtless way.

A couple of restaurants were hemming the street that snuggled against the bank, chatting people occupying the chairs outside, the lively but dim light of torchs which had been placed among the tables illuminating the night.

"Who wants to try the best pizza in the whole city?" Merle chanted when they joined her at the entrance of the small restaurant, a broken nameplate dangling in the night breeze.

"I'm not hungry," Van stated absently and ran with a tanned hand through his unruly hair, auburn eyes fixed on the river. "I'll wait here outside."

"Well, I could eat a cow," Amano exclaimed and rubbed his stomach in lazy circles, making Yukari smack him hard on the arm. "What now?" he complained almost exasperatedly.

"That's disgusting," Yukari replied, turning up her nose and Amano just rolled his eyes.

"Come on, man," he nudged Allen with a grin and both men turned to enter the restaurant. "Merle, you're the expert here. What would you recommend?"

The pink-haired girl clapped her hands and bounced at their side like a kitten. "Aye, I hope you're really hungry," she stated and her blue eyes were sparkling mieschivously when she waltzed through the doors.

Hitomi was about to follow them when Yukari suddenly stepped into her way, arms determinedly crossed in front of her chest and brown eyes dangerously sparkling down at her. "There were things you wanted to settle," she said dryly and nodded with her head at something behind Hitomi.

The sandy-blonde brushed a strand out of her face and glanced over her shoulder, spotting Van at the railing that separated the bank from the street. She winced. "Were there?" she questioned feebly, making Yukari snarl.

"Don't you dare to put one foot into the restaurant," the readhead growled and Hitomi sighed in defeat. "Good girl. I'll get you something to eat." 

Yukari patted her on the head as if she was a dog and turned around with a sweet smile, leaving Hitomi to herself. Did she actually say that she was grateful for Yukari's understanding? Well, she would take that back – now!

With a sigh, the young woman turned and slowly crossed the street in order to keep Van company. She had no alternative apart from Yukari's wrath, had she?!

He was casually leaning on the rusty railing, the wind playing lazily with his unruly hair, his eyes closed. The streetlamp that was situated a few meters beside him made his outlines stick out against the dark background of the river. Right then, he looked more lost than ever. 

Hitomi stepped quietly beside him, resting her head in her palms. He looked lost in thoughts, lost in his own world. She directed her gaze at the river with its waters as black as the night sky. Two small ships were forcing their way through the waves, the dancing reflections of their navigation lights the only proof of their existance. She glanced back at Van, his relaxed features radiating a tranquility that made her feel at peace. She smiled.

"What do clouds smell like?" she questioned in a whisper, head curiously cocked to the side.

Black eyelashes calmly opened, revealing sparkling rusty-coloured eyes that rested instantly on her. "What do you mean?" he replied just as quietly.

Hitomi smiled at him and turned away to look at the dark silhouette of the city which was growing from the bank of the river it seemed. She had known that he had been aware of her presence. "They say that the one who can hear the laughter of butterflies knows the scent of clouds," Hitomi explained, her eyes reflecting the lights of the ships that were swaying with the current.

"You think I can hear butterflies laugh?" Van asked, his lips twitching slightly.

She glanced at him, raven-black strands, which were sparkling in the orange light of the lamp beside them, tumbling over his eyes, their red glowing from out of the dark beneath. Soft shadows were tracing his features like the hands of a lover would do, bronze skin darker than usual. 

"Maybe," she answered with a secretive smile. "I don't know, it's just the way you look at everything. It seems that you see more than me when you look around, when you watch people, when you stare at the horizon. It is as if there is something else but I cannot see it."

The shadow of a smile passed his lips and he turned away, remaining silent.

"And even now, it seemed you were listening to something I cannot hear," Hitomi stated, watching his profile, her attention drawn to his sculpted nose and lips. "What was it you were listening to?"

His lips parted and he smiled softly. "Close your eyes."

Hitomi blinked in surprise but obeyed, curled lashes fluttering shut and resting on cream-coloured cheeks. A deep sigh escaped her lips and she tried her best to relax while concentrating on her surroundings. 

It was strange what she could hear with her eyes closed and her visual sense gone, no light distracting her from the noises around her. She heard the soft swepping of the waves that hit a concrete wall a few meters underneath them, the sound mingling with the conversations which reached her faintly from all the restaurants and bars behind her, a soft murmur filling the warm air. 

Cicades were playing their endless melody in the trees hemming the street, a deep roaring indicating that a car was approaching. Every other sound was drowned when it sped past, a piece of litter noisily crushed under the tires. She heard a lone dog join a siren, the howling echoing into the nightsky where it mixed with the laughter of the couple walking at the other side of the street. 

Each noise was different, each noise was alive in its own way.

"The heartbeat of the night," she finally whispered and opened her eyes to face him.

He smiled silently, reminding her of reflections of sunlight dancing on the stirred up surface of a sea. Unnoticed by her, the auburn-eyed youth had watched her when she had been concentrating to listen, finding himself smiling about the way she frowned, the way she pursed her lips. He couldn't explain it but he felt good when he was with her, he felt oddly normal.

Maybe it was because she didn't wore a white coat and threatened him with tests. Maybe it was because of the way she looked at him with her incredibly green eyes so full of wonder, the way she spoke to him that made him feel as if he were just an ordinary young man. In her presence, he seemed to be able to forget, even if it was just until she looked him in the eye again, searching for what he was trying to hide and ignore with all his strength, locking it away in the darkest corner of his mind.      

"Did something happen, Van?" she asked carefully, turning away after studying his unreadable features.

"What makes you think that?" the raven-haired youth replied, not moving either.

"You've been quiet, today," Hitomi answered and absently picked the old paint of the railing which was already flaking off. "More than usual."

As much as she didn't want to press him, she wanted to know more about him. She wanted to know what he was doing all day long, what his favourite music was, his favourite meal. She wanted to know what he would kill for and what he would do if he had left only one day to live. She wanted to know what made him brood so much, wanted to know what was on his mind for his eyes seemed to keep a secret.

She jerked lightly when he suddenly spoke, his deep voice startling her out of her thoughts. "A lot of things have happened these last days," he said, running a desperate hand through his already dishevelled hair. "It makes me feel as if my life accelerated so much that I'm pressed into my seat, unable to move."

"For example?" she offered, watching him out of the corners of her eyes and he gave a laugh.

"Well, for example, I visited the grave of my parents for the first time since their death," he replied and his grip around the railing tightened briefly, Hitomi observing his every reaction. "I met my brother after a quite long time and I...I..." Van trailed off and shrugged his shoulders uneasily, reaching out with his right hand to scratch his back irritatedly. "And I showed him something he didn't like, I think."

"Did you have a fight?" Hitomi questioned and prayed that she didn't hit a sore spot. The least she wanted right now was him extending his walls of defence. They already had a height she could hardly reach.

"Actually, it was more like him turning away from me and walking off without saying anything at all," Van stated with a desperate sigh, his shoulders sagging visibly. "If he had just said something. Anything. I wished he had yelled and screamed at me but he...he simply turned away."

"What was it you showed him?" the green-eyed girl asked, her hair swirling with the warm breeze.

"The reason why I've been away for so long," he replied monotonously and Hitomi sighed, knowing that he had chosen the words intentionally. 

"Maybe you would understand his action if you asked yourself what you would have done if you had been in his place," she suggested and frowned in confusion when she saw his lips reluctantly turn up. "Why are you smiling?"

"Because I would have done the same," the young man responded, auburn eyes reflecting the light of the night. "Thank you."

"Nah, was just my good deed of the day," the sandy-blonde stated and patted herself on the shoulder, grinning at the raven-haired youth who smirked back at her.

"But now tell, why didn't you join them to get some pizza?" Van asked casually, propping his elbow on the railing and resting his head lazily in his palm. "I'd rather choose a pizza over my company, I must admit."

Immediately, Hitomi felt her face heat up and she quickly turned away from his eyes that, she was sure, were sparkling with mieschivousness. Her heart was beating in her throat where it actually didn't belong and for once in her life she was glad that it was dark. Did she ever say something against darkness? Night was the best time of the day, really. "I wasn't hungry," she whispered and hoped he wouldn't notice her voice shaking; but he didn't need to notice at all because right then, at that very moment, her stomach decided it was time to make an appearance, a very loud appearance.

Hitomi desperately pressed her hands on her stomach but in the silence of the night, the rumbling could probably be heard in Timbuktu. 

Great, just great. Her stomach could have growled the whole time but no, it had to draw the attention to itself right when he asked that stupid question, making her look like the biggest fool on earth. Thank you very much.

She hid her flaming cheeks behind her honey-blond tresses (she knew he would see them glow, _now, _even if it was dark), clinging to her last hope that he maybe hadn't heard it.  

"You're a bad liar, you know?" Van commented and she could _hear_ the grin on his face. Oh well, to have ones hope shattered like some vase on tiled floor was really an experience.

"Tell me something new," Hitomi sighed and slumped over the railing, thinking about a way to disappear from the surface of this planet, quick and silent if possible.

Maybe if she wished hard enough, she would wake up and laugh about this crazy dream of hers. "You still didn't answer my question," Van's voice reached her and she cursed under her breath. Why couldn't he let her one hope? Why not?

"Well, I actually wanted to ask you something," she admitted and pricked a really big peace of paint off the railing, not daring to look up into his eyes for she feared she would simply melt. Plus if her heart beat just a little louder, it would drown her own voice. 

"Go ahead," he replied and watched her attentively.

"Fine," she sighed, trying to sound as casual as possible – which was quite hard to do with her heart beating in her throat. "It's nothing important. I just wanted to ask if you'd like to go watch a movie or something within the next week." To her, the whole sentence had sounded like on word.

"Together with all of you again?" Van questioned and cocked his head curiously to the side. 

Hitomi took a deep breath. "No," she pressed out, her hands closing around the railing. "Only with me."

Unbelievable. She had really said it; and she felt like falling into a bottomless hole, her heart hammering a hole in her ribcage. Hesitantly, the green-eyed girl turned around to face him and felt her heart stop at the sight of him smiling lop-sidedly at her, white teeth flashing and his unfathomable eyes sparkling intensely.

"Sure, why not?!" he replied with a shrug and Hitomi felt as if a complete mountain range was lifted off of her shoulders. "And now, tell me, was it that hard?"

Her eyes bulged at the question, her mouth opening and closing like the one of a fish at the shore. "What...?"

"Merle," Van explained, the grin refusing to leave his face. "She told me you were going to ask me something like that and that you would need your time to do so."

"She did what?!" Hitomi finally blurted out, almost choking.

It was when the voices around them increased, their friends exiting the restaurant with pizzas piled up on the arms of the guys and an air of laughter surrounding them. Hitomi gaped at them, still shocked and speechless, and Van stepped beside her, hands stuffed in the pockets of his beige pants that slacked around his legs.

"Rain."

"Pardon?" Hitomi replied, turning away from her approaching friends to face him, a soft breeze ruffling his hair in an adorable fashion and it made her think that it had to be this way; straight hair simply wouldn't fit him.

"The answer to your question earlier," he replied patiently and couldn't hide the smile when he saw the frown on her forehead deepen even more, making her look as if he just asked for the shortest way to reach the moon. "Clouds. They smell like rain." 

                  ~´´``~

The huge Dornkirk Inc. skyscraper stood like an old megalithe against the cloudless nightsky, the labyrinth of hallways within the building forsaken and dark, the buzzing of the ventilation the only noise. A dim light only came from a handful of offices, lonely computers humming quietly to themselves while finishing calculations over the night. 

One of these offices was situated at one of the upper floors. Being the only source of light, the small but expensive lamp was hardly able to keep the night's darkness that crept through the windows which occupied the complete southern and western front off of the mahagony desk, creating a weak island of light around the single person who sat there, shoulders sagging.

The only noise that could be heard was the rhythmical clicking of keys that sounded like gunshots in the silence, a stiffled yawn interupting the monotonuous melody every now and then, delicate fingers rising from the keyboard to run through dishevelled, blonde curls.

Millerna rubbed her tired and burning eyes until she saw colourful circles, peeking at the silver clock that stood proudly in a corner of her desk - 2:19 AM. With a long groan, she fell back into her chair and let her head dangle over the backrest, long, blond hair spilling in every direction.

When she opened her reddened violet orbs, she was greeted with an upsite-down view on the city. The scyscrapers looked like over-sized stalactites made of steel and glass, hanging from the ceiling that was downtown. The aerials which were attached to their flat rooves were blinking red into the night, their light faintly reflected in innumerable windows.  

More than eight million people were living in this city – and the majority was asleep right now. Damn them all. She couldn't remember when she had slept for the last time; slept well and long that is. The young woman didn't count those two-and-a-half-hours-naps of which she had had enough, feeling everytime like some sheet of paper one had crumpled and unfolded way too often. She had come to the conclusion that no sleep was better than two hours of sleep.

But she just couldn't help. The last days had been plain horrible. She had never experienced something similar to this in all the time she was already working at Dornkirk Inc. but now, she knew exactly what _state of emergency_ truly meant. Everything was topsy-turvy and even if the day consisted of thirty-six hours, she wouldn't be able to finish all her work. 

Van was gone and the lab was a mess. And it had happened to the worst time possible with all the supervisors at the lab who had been sent by the different sponsors. Now, they were up in arms, seeing their money already running down the drain.

And still, she couldn't believe it. It was like her worst nightmare had come true with him running away just like that. With a frustrated sigh, she brought her hands up to her face and pressed them against her temples, hoping to stop her head from sweeling like a ballon. One day it would simply burst, that was for sure.

"Well then," she spoke to no-one in particular and attempted to straighten so as to go back to work. "There's still a lo--"

The rest of the sentence ended in a mortifying scream that echoed down the empty hallways when she faced the silhouette of a person in the twilight behind the safety of her desk. It was as if her heart was falling into the hollows of her knees, her hands flying to her mouth and her eyes widening.

White teeth flashed briefly and glasses sparkled.

"For heaven's sake, Dryden!" Millerna yelled when she recognized the person, jumping from her chair and slamming her hands angrily on the desk. "Do you want to kill me or what?!"

"Actually, I just thought you might need this," Dryden replied with a crooked smile and produced a mug from behind his back, the scent of warm coffee filling her nostrils by the moment he placed it onto her desk.

The young woman sighed and fell back into her chair, beyond exhaustion. "Coffee is already running through my veins," she muttered and glanced up at him, his green eyes searching her ones over the rim of his glasses. "What are you doing here, anyway? It's half past two in the morning, if you haven't noticed yet."

"Well, I thought it was the perfect time to go for a walk," he drawled, a smirk flashing across his features. When he caught her glare, he sighed. "I only wanted to see if you were alright or if you worked yourself finally to death."

"Was about to," Millerna admitted dryly and reached for the mug. Taking a sip, she closed her eyes and sighed in contentment, Dryden watching her intently.

His gaze roamed over her desk, with folders and loose shets of paper scattered everywhere. The violet-eyed woman had always been a chaotic person, order a foreign word for her. Brushing a stubborn curl out of his view, Dryden reached for a pile of photographs that caught his attention. 

"What is this?" he asked flatly, scanning over the pictures that showed a raven-haired youth he'd met in person, only a few days ago.

Opening her eyes, Millerna watched him calmly. Despite the time, his dark-green suit still looked as if he had just put it on, only the first buttons of the neat, white shirt unbuttoned and the tie missing (as usual). His stance was straight, his body showing in no way that he was tired.  

Piercing green eyes were steadfastly focused on the photographs, a frown visible on his handsome features. Only a few strands were escaping the ponytail that tried to tame his curly, brown hair and his lips were pressed to a thin line. The young woman felt a familiar warmth creep through her innards when her gaze trailed along his chiseled jaw-line, high cheek-bones and thick brows, a warmth she hadn't felt for a long time, a warmth she had fought with all her strength; a warmth she had hoped to never feel again by looking at him.

He reached up to push his glasses up his sharp nose and glanced at her out of the corners of his eyes with his brows raised questioningly. She turned away, refusing to admit to herself that she had been staring at him.

"You already found him?" he asked incredulously, holding up the pictures. "And you're observing him?"      

"Of course," Millerna replied and looked out of the window, the skyline of the city a dark silhoutte in the night. "It wasn't so hard to find him at all for he went straight to find his brother." The blond-haired woman sighed, the warmth of the coffee creeping into her fingertips and making her notice just how tired she truly was. "Though I still can't believe that he ran away, just like that."

To her surprise, Dryden barked out a laugh, and her violet orbs flickered up to meet his mocking ones. "The boy found out that his life was one big lie, Millerna!" he stated, disbelief swinging with his words. "What would you have done if you had been him?"

Millerna closed her mouth that had already been opened in order to protest, averting her eyes to the ground.

"He felt betrayed by the ones he had trusted the most," Dryden continued and Millerna turned her back on him. "Maybe you'll finally see what you did to him."

An angry violet flashed at him, theeth gritted. "We did nothing wrong!" Millerna countered, her voice slowly rising. "Everything was for his best, and for his best only!"

Dryden chuckled and Millerna clenched her fists, rage boiling within her. How she hated when he was like that; laughing about her work and the things she believed in. "Of course," he replied slowly, his deep voice laced with sarcasm. "You keep telling that yourself but say, if he really is that precious for you and you only want the _best_ for him, then why isn't he already back here, caged within glass and concrete?"

Her look was the one of a lioness, just about to jump at her prey, every muscle tense. But though he simply grinned at her, knowing that she would rather die than lose control of her temper in front of him, not willing to risk her pride. 

How he loved her strength but oh, how he wanted to smack some sense into that beautiful and terribly stubborn head of hers.

"Isaac wants to observe and study him out there a little longer," she finally replied, hissing the words through gritted teeth and Dryden's fingers twitched unconsciously when she said Dornkirk's name. "The datas are invaluable and he'll have to return sooner or later after all. Maybe not because he wants to but because he's got no choice left."

Dryden's dark brows went together in a frown, long fingers pushing the fragile glasses up his nose. "Why?"

"Because we've got something he needs," she replied and looked at the screen of her computer that emitted a dull white light, the last calculation she had entered, now finished. 

_17 days            _

              ~´´``~

Tbc...

**A/N: Long time, no chapter, right?! *cowers* I hope you didn't forget me...*looks around when she gets nothing but silence as response* T_T But okay, first off, a big, big THANK YOU to all my reviewers!!!!!!!! Thanks so much!!!! And I'm sorry that I can't reply, now!!!! *falls on knees* I'll try to add the review replies over the weekend ^_^ But then again, you want to read the story and not my ranting, ne?! :P At least, I hope so...Aye, maybe you liked it and maybe you'll leave a review ^_^ And I promise to try to not take what? - almost three months to update??? Talk about feeling bad U_U Well then, I go pity myself.**

**See you next chapter,**

**Dariel**

**P.S. I don't own Escaflowne...sad enough but why do I have to say it every time?! After all, I wouldn't be here if I owned it! Muahahahahaha!!!**


	10. White rabbit

Chapter 10 White rabbit

The soft splashing of the aquarium was the only noise in the apartment, the yells of children floating through the opened windows every now and then. The air outside was flirring with heat, jammed in the streets, caught between the houses that were hemming them. Sunlight was dancing through the glass cube that was filled with water, throwing lively reflections on Van's expressionless features.

He was watching a swarm of striped fish winding their way past feathery plants with eyes that were the colour of a foggy sunrise in spring, dark lashes forever framing them like the still lingering dark of the night.

The coffee that had been placed for him on the counter in the kitchen had long turned cold, the cornflakes slowly dissolved in a bowl of milk. When he had awoken, the apartment had been forsaken, his brother and the twins at work. Van hadn't seen his brother since this last Friday when he had shown him the wings. Without saying anything, Folken had walked out on him and had been avoiding him quite successfully throughout the whole weekend.

It had hurt. That day, he had seen something in Folken's eyes which he had never experienced before – rejection. Pure rejection.

His fists clenched involuntarily and his nails dug deep into his palms, only the muffled noise of keys clinking made him finally snap out of his thoughts. The door to the flat slowly opened and Van's heart instantly skipped a beat. He knew it was Folken.

It was silent after the door closed again with a quiet click and Van felt his brother's eyes boring into the back of his head, goosebumps crawling all the way up his spine. There was no shuffling of feet, no rustling of clothes, Folken standing motionlessly in the entrance to the living room. Van heard him taking a deep breath, before the familiar deep and sounding voice filled the room, hesitant and a bit raspy as if his vocal cords still needed to get used to the word that hadn't been formed by them for so long. "Van."

"Folken," the raven-haired youth replied flatly and rose swiftly from his chair, walking over to look out of a window. His fingers closed so tightly around the window sill that his knuckles turned a pale white. Of course, he was angry. "You finally decided to talk to me again."

"I'm sorry," Folken sighed defeatedly and ran a nervous hand through his messy, aqua-blue hair. "I'm so sorry, Van, but..."

"But what?" Van barked when his brother trailed off and turned sharply around, angry auburn eyes flashing from behind strands of pitch-black hair. "But you simply didn't want to talk to your repulsive brother? Didn't want to see the freak?"

"_But_ you have to understand me!" he shouted angrily over Van's ranting, brown eyes narrowing.

"Oh, I understand perfectly fine!" Van countered quickly and his fists were shaking at his sides, rage the very essence of his words. "I could read very clearly in your eyes what you thought of me that very minute!"

"Van, no," Folken replied exasperatedly and burried his hand in his hair, shaking his head softly. "No, you don't. There were things I really believed in, you know? Things that kept my life and my mind in order. And then, you happen; you who I thought dead for eighteen years, you who is keeping this incredible secret!"

Van was just staring back at his brother with unreadable eyes, his jaw clenched. "You were like a gust of wind that crushed my beliefs as if they were a house of cards," he continued and gave a laugh. "You know, these last days, I was doubting my state of mind quite a lot. I thought I imagined everything but when I saw you asleep with the gashes so clearly visible on your back, I knew that everything was true and I simply couldn't believe it. At first, I didn't even want to believe it. I needed time, Van. I needed time."

_What would you have done? _

Her voice was suddenly echoing throughout his mind, her words reveberating from every fibre of his body and his hands immediately uncurled. It was like a soft hushing that soothed the boiling rage within him, his features relaxing.

At once, guilt was washing over him like waves over a seashell hidden within the sand of a beach. He had needed time to adjust to the sudden changes in his life but he had refused to allow his brother a minute to breathe. He had demanded for Folken to accept everything right the second he was told about it, had demanded for him to accept that he had lived a lie as well. How egoistical he had been.

"I'm sorry," Van said suddenly and quietly into the silence, his posture straight but unbelievably tired, making Folken look up in surprise. "I think I just didn't expect you to act like that."

"Like what?" his brother countered, both brows lifted in surprise, and absently scratched his healthy arm with metall fingers that were jacketed with an elastic skin immitation. Van watched the movement attentively when the prothesis turned fluently, strikingly resembling a real arm if it hadn't been for the metal joints.

"Like you were scared beyond sanity," the young man answered monotonuously, eyes glued to the artificial arm of his brother. "Back in the lab, I had never been confronted with such a reaction. The people there were simply used to it."

He gave a hollow laugh and smiled up at Folken, making him inhale sharply. The smile was a mere twitch of his lips, so full of disdain, that didn't intend to warm his eyes and left them completely untouched, left them cold.

"That lab," Folken muttered and shook his head, sitting down on a bar stool beside the counter that secluded the kitchen. "It's impossible! By the Gods, everything you told me is impossible!"

Van returned Folken's intense stare a moment longer, before he slowly turned away and leaned with his shoulder against the wall beside the window. "But it is there," he stated lowly, his voice no more than a whisper, and looked at the street below while the sun was warming his tense features. "There, between the skyscrapers and under the sidewalks."

"What now, Van?" Folken questioned helplessly, his forehead braced against his fist. "What are we going to do now?"

"You know, I didn't really think when I left the outfit," Van replied ironically and this time, a real smile made the corners of his lips quirk. "I didn't think of any consequences. Everything that was on my mind was to get out of there and to find you. Nothing else. I don't know what to do, Folken. I simply don't know."

A groan was the reply and he briefly glanced at his brother who was the epitome of desperation, face hidden in his hand and shoulders slumped. "I mean, it's as if someone pulled you out of a topper like some white rabbit!" he exclaimed and shook his head. "You appeared out of thin air without any warning, without any belongings, without anyone knowing! You don't have an identity card, just to begin with! In this world, you're nothing without an id, nothing without a piece of plastic to prove that you are you, nothing without a row of numbers and letters giving you a place in the sytem.

"And it's not that we could call the police or anything," he continued and laughed about the ridiculous hopelessness of the whole situation. "If you told them your name they would find that Van Fanel died a pretty long time ago. They would probably send us to a mental hospital."

"They would probably report us," Van contradicted quietly and Folken shot him a wary glance, one brow raised. "Dornkirk's got his eyes and ears everywhere."

"Do you think they're searching for you?" he asked carefully and Van looked at him out of the corners of his eyes, lips pressed together.

"If they haven't already found me," the young man answered in a whisper and reached out with a hand to draw invisible patterns on the warm glass of the window.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know what they're planning," Van replied, shaking his head softly, and pressed his hand flat against the window. "But I'm sure they could have fetched me back already if they had just wanted to."

"And though you're running around as if everything was alright?" Folken questioned in disbelief, a little louder than he had intended to, and knitted his brows. "Are you waiting to be caught or what!"

"What do you expect me to do?" was the barked reply and Van spread his arms. "Should I hide somewhere and never come out again? You know, I always wanted to see the sky, wanted to see the sun rise, wanted to smell summer and rain. Nobody's going to take that away from me ever again. Nobody. I won't allow that to happen...I'd rather die."

"Did you think about leaving the city?" Folken voiced after a moment of intense silence and Van turned to cast him a sceptical glance.

"And do what?" he countered with laughter in his voice. "Get a fake identity and hide on Barbados? That's ridiculous, Folken."

"But – " the brown-eyed man started to protest but was immediately interupted, eyes the colour of red jasper narrowing in determination.

"There has to be another solution. And right now, we can do nothing but wait."

"Seems you're going to stay a little while longer then," Folken stated calmly but quickly raised his hands in defence when he caught the irritated glare Van was directing at him. "It wasn't a complaint! I was just summing everything up for me."

He shook his head softly, before continuing. "You'll get Naria's room," he informed his brother who just frowned in reply. "I already discussed it with Eriya. The woman actually lives at her boyfriend's but is simply too lazy to remove the rest of her stuff from her old room here. You know, we can put all her belongings out in the hallway to tick her off a bit. Did you plan anything for the evening already?"

A devilish glint had entered Folken's eyes by the time and the young man was hardly able to restrain himself from rubbing his hands, looking like a ten-year-old who was about to raid the hidden cookie box. He had obviously been waiting for this opportunity. However, the expression on his face changed into one of mild surprise when he watched the shadow of a smile pass Van's lips like the flashing of a piece of glass in the sunlight.

"I take that as a yes," Folken smirked and Van looked up, pitch-black strands tumbling over his smiling eyes.

"I'll go to the movies with a friend, tonight," he replied, the incessant quirking of the corners of his mouth only stopping when he noticed the expression on his brother's face. "What? Do you want to forbid me to go? It's a dangerous world out there, isn't it!"

"No, I only want you to be careful," Folken countered softly and Van angrily knitted his brows, before turning quickly away. "Furthermore, I suppose you don't have any money, judging by your earlier words about not thinking of any consequences."

Van's eyes widened slightly and he reached into his pocket, only to find a lonely and crumpled bill. He wouldn't even be able to buy his way on the bus, let alone a ticket for the cinema.

The elder man sighed and cast a look at the bowl beside him that was still filled with Van's breakfast. Smiling wryly, he nudged it and the cornflakes mash came to wobbly life. "And I suppose you didn't eat anything yet," he continued and Van only nodded mutely. "Well, what about we go grab something to eat and discuss a few important things? Maybe then, I'll be finally able to sleep at night again."

´´

"And, did you like the movie?" Van questioned nonchalantly, leaning a bit down to Hitomi when he fell in step beside her, after wiggling his way past the innumerable chatting people that were pouring out of the cinema with them.

Startled, her head snapped up at the sound of his voice so close beside her, and she immediately began to twist the magazine she was holding when she found him looking at her expectantly. The magazine was already covered with folds and creases for she had been kneading it all evening long. It was a traitorous habit. Damn her nervousness.

"Erm...yes, I liked it a lot," she replied quietly, smiling unsurely. "But I would have enjoyed it so much more if this couple hadn't talked all the time!"

Van cocked an eyebrow in surprise when she hissed the words through gritted teeth, and looked warily down at her hands which were crushing the magazine that her knuckles turned white. "Did you hear them?" Hitomi asked hotly and Van shook his head, biting down a smile when her eyes narrowed to ominous slits. "Gods, if they just wanted to talk they could have gone to a café or something like this! I didn't want to know what Katherine did to her boyfriend or anything! And if this wasn't already enough, I was being bombarded with popcorn as well! It's just as if there is a big, glowing sign above my head, saying _Please, annoy me!_"

Snorting angrily, she turned to face Van who had his hands casually tugged in the pockets of his pants and looked at her with amusement dancing in his eyes, making them sparkle like rubies in the light of the streetlamps. "What?" she asked warily when a grin formed on his lips.

"Nothing," he answered with a shrug and a warm breeze moved lazy strands of jet-black hair. "I just didn't know you were that much of a talker...and that much of a choleric person."

Hitomi flushed instantly all the way up to the tips of her ears, hastily averting her eyes so to stop her cheeks from catching fire. "I'm not," she protested in a whisper and watched her feet tap along the sidewalk.

"If you say so," Van drawled, his smile wrapped around his words.

"Yes, I do," she confirmed pointedly and glanced at him out of the corners of her eyes, turning quickly away when she found him looking back at her. "I'm usually very quiet and just happen to have...little outbursts every now and then. But if it annoys you, I'll shut up, of course, and will remain silent for the rest of the evening."

He grinned briefly and tilted his head backwards, turning his face up at the dark and almost empty nightsky. The streetlamps were outshining the majority of stars that were scattered across the sky like sparkling raindrops across the hood of a black car, only the brightest ones visible.

After the conversation he had had with Folken in a little café, his mood was burried six feet under. It had brought up so many things he had banished from his mind, things he had locked up and thrown away the key, things he just didn't want to think about. He hadn't thought the evening would turn out pleasant but just by seeing her standing lonely by herself, people bustling around her like a flock of birds heading southwards, her ever green eyes scanning the crowd for him, he hadn't been able to do anything but smile.

She was like a stripe of light across the horizon that was following the rain clouds, promising that even the worst rainshower would be over one time. He didn't know what exactly it was about her that fascinated him so much, that made him search for her company, made him glance at her whenever she wasn't looking at him. There were just too many things.

And she still hadn't asked. Van was grateful but at the same time, he knew that she wouldn't be waiting forever for him to speak up by himself. And he sensed that she knew he wouldn't be starting to tell her anytime soon in this lifetime.

"I'm boring, right?" Hitomi finally broke the silence, waking Van from his thoughts and making him blink his eyes to bring them back into focus.

"Why do you think that?" he questioned in reply, studying her tense posture, her bare arms crossed in front of her chest and her green eyes glaring at the paved sidewalk from underneath knitted brows.

"Because I can't come up with anything to start a conversation with you and that's why we were silent since we left the cinema," she answered matter-of-factly, still refusing to look at him. "_And_ we're walking around with no destination at all, meaning that I have absolutely no clue what to do now."

"Well, you're wrong with both," Van countered, mimicking her intonation and earning a suspiciously lifted brow. "First, just because we're not talking doesn't mean that we do not have something to talk about but that we simply don't need to talk. And second, we're not running around all aimlessly."

Hitomi frowned when he raised a tanned arm and pointed at something ahead. Her brows shot up by spotting the fast food restaurant they were heading at, the oversized, unmistakably yellow glowing, bend and trademarked french fries illuminating the night. The bright sign was attracting people like moths. "I didn't know there was one here," she mumbled in surprise and Van shrugged.

"Neither did I."

Brushing a stray hair out of her face, she sighed. "You can eat healthy and you can eat there," she stated dryly and glanced at Van, pure suspicion glinting in her bright green eyes. "This must be in your blood or something."

"Yep," he agreed with a nod and a grin twitching at the corners of his lips. "I was born with ketchup running through my veins."

"I can well believe that," Hitomi countered and rolled her eyes. "And your brain is a cheeseburger."

"Probably," he returned with a short but confident nod and a lazy grin spread across his features.

Hitomi could only grin back at him, amazed about herself. She had really managed to break the ice, she was usually slipping on and embaressing herself in the process. She was a huge icebreaker right then, watching ice floes scratch along her massive, iron hull. Pathetic, little ice floes! Yes, the icebreaker Hitomi was on her way across the Bering Sea and would soon reach the Pacific Ocean. No problems occurred so far.

"Care to tell why you're grinning like you just won the lottery?" Van questioned casually, turning away from her to look out at the street.

"Maybe, I just did," she replied smugly, smirking mysteriously up at his profile.

He revealed his crooked canine tooth when he smiled, and whenever he did, his every feature seemed to be affected by it. It was one of the things she would get never tired of watching, like sunrises and waves washing upon a sandy shore in a neverending course.

It was like standing in an elevator that had just been set in motion when he directed one of his dazing smiles at her. It was like he could suspend gravity for the tiniest of moments, making her feel completely weightless.

"Hitomi..." his voice faintly reached her in her trance-like state and she confusedly blinked her eyes.

It was when she suddenly came to a dead stop, squeezing her eyes shut when her skull connected with something rather firm and cold, a spot on her temple emitting waves of dull pain up to the tips of her hair.

"...you're about to head straight into a traffic sign," Van finished dryly, grimacing, when he watched her clutch her forehead with both hands, a sympathetic expression on his features. "Everything alright?"

No, dammit! Nothing was alright! She just ran straight into a metal pole because she had been staring foolishly at him, forgetting everything else around her!

Gods, why did it always happen to her? Why did her common sense decide to turn off the lights in her mind and take a nap in the most splendid of moments? She looked up at Van through misty eyes and he raised his dark brows in surprise. A green fire of accusation was burning in her orbs, as if all this had been his fault.

"I'll survive," she mumbled and feverishly rubbed her temple, trying to pulverize the pain while still glaring at him. "Why didn't you warn me?"

"I did."

She groaned inwardly and felt the sudden urge to smack her head against that damn metal pole. Could metal poles feel pain? If yes, she would feel a whole lot better.

With a snort, Hitomi averted her gaze from his laughing eyes, shuffling along through the door which he was holding open for her, into McDonald's. A warm cloud that was thick with the scents of mustard and burgers wrapped around her as soon as she set a foot on the tile-clad floor.

"Oh, come on," Van said cheerfully when he lined up beside a still grumbling Hitomi, hands once again stuffed in his pockets while cocking his head to one side, searching her eyes. "I'm going to treat you."

She cast him a dry glance out of the corners of her eyes. "One of my biggest wishes come true," she retorted sarcastically. "I feel so much better now, thank you."

"You don't have to take the offer if you don't want to," he shrugged and turned to look over the heads of the people in front of him, rocking softly back and forth on his heels. "If it makes you happy, you can pay for yourself."

"Fine, if you're forcing me like that!" Hitomi huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest, making Van's lips quirk in a brief grin. "But not that I'll end up paying everything myself again because you don't have any money with you."

"No no," he assured her with a chuckle, shaking his head slightly. "Thanks to my brother, I've got some bills."

"You don't talk much about your brother." Van turned away, lips involuntarily pressed to a thin line.

"Maybe," he replied flatly and absently took two steps forward, the queue moving.

Hitomi smiled, averting her green eyes from watching his profile, not noticing the ditch Van was quickly digging around himself that very moment. "You know, it's funny when you think about it. I actually know nothing about you. For all I know, you could be..."

"A subject that ran from a hidden lab where forbidden experiments take place?" Van continued when she trailed off, his features expressionless.

"I actually thought of someone who steals lollipops from little kids," Hitomi stated and looked at him out of the corners of her eyes. "But the subject will also do."

The young man beside her just kept staring ahead, his jaw set and his hands that were hidden in his pockets clenched tightly to fists, knuckles white.

"How old is your brother?" she questioned after a moment of silence, her gaze fixed on the t-shirt of the black-haired girl in front of her that read in colourful letters _If stupid was a sport, you'd be in the hall of fame._ Oh, how very nice.

Meanwhile, Van had already closed his drawbridge, leaving Hitomi standing in front of a water-filled ditch.

"What about you go get us a table while I get us some food?" he suddenly spoke up and she turned to face him, blinking in confusion. Maybe her voice had been too quiet?

"Yes, but --" she tried again and was cut off.

"I mean, the place is pretty stuffed and judging by the length of the queue, we'll end up standing," he continued monotonously, still not looking at her and quite successfully ignoring her. "What do you want?"

Sometimes, she just didn't know what to make of him. He could joke and make her feel as if, for once, she wasn't making a complete fool out of herself. He could smile at her that she wanted to hide her face in a pillow and grin until her skull split. And then, within seconds, he could turn into an ice block that was able to cool a complete ocean of orange juice for years.

He was like one of those damn patience games where you had to juggle some tiny balls into even tinier holes and when you feel like bursting with joy because you sank yet another one of the stubborn balls, the two ones you sank earlier jump out of their holes. Gods knew about her instabil patience span.

"I'd only like to have some ice cream," Hitomi finally answered and her eyes slightly hardened when he quickly glanced at her. She wanted to pin him to the wall with dart arrows and keep him there until he had answered every single question that was roaring through her mind since the moment she had first laid eyes on him. "With chocolate sauce."

Van held her stare, her eyes like a storm-lashed sea, until she wordlessly turned around. He watched her walk away with unreadable eyes, exhaling deeply when she was out of sight. Running a frustrated hand through his hair, he focused his gaze on the t-shirt Hitomi had admired earlier. He didn't even wonder why he felt so addressed by it.

Why was his life just so screwed up?

"Beautiful day to take a load unhealthy food, isn't it!" a deep voice drawled behind him, freezing him to the spot, the words strikingly familiar.

"Dryden!" he breathed, eyes wide.

"Really good," came the quiet but amused reply from behind him. "Someone's getting a cookie here. No, don't turn around!"

Van narrowed his eyes when he was pushed in the back by trying to glance over his shoulder. "What are you doing here? – hey!" he exclaimed when Dryden forced him back around again. "And what's with the James Bond secretiveness?"

"I'm here to give you a few advices, Van," he answered and his brown eyes sparkled from out of the shadows under his base cap. "A free service of friendship you could say."

"Dryden..." Van hissed lowly, his voice anything but patient.

"Okay okay, just listen," Dryden sighed and pushed his glasses up his straight nose, the glass catching the light of the lamps for a second. "I don't assume you're that naïve as not to consider that they're searching you or maybe already have found you, right?"

A brief silence engulfed them while people were noisily bustling past them, conversations and the shuffling of feet swirling around them like rain and clouds around the eye of a hurricane. "Yes."

"Good, because they did find you," Dryden stated casually, watching Van clench his hands to fists at his sides. "They're observing every step you take, everywhere you go, every minute, since the moment you met your brother. You can trust me, I saw the photos."

"How?" he hissed through gritted teeth, his eyes cold like the water of the northern seas.

"Dornkirk's got this ace up his sleeve," Dryden replied and Van could hear the disdainful smile that circled the older man's lips. "Young boy, pretty much your age, talented beyond belief. He's sitting two tables away from the door, leafing through some prospect. Albino – I said don't turn around!"

Van bit down a curse when he bumped into Dryden again by trying to turn around, and ran a nervous hand through his hair. He had already dismissed the thought of them _not_ knowing where he was as impossible. Yet, the confirmation sent a chill down his spine, making him feel as if eyes were watching him from everywhere.

"Why are they only watching?" he asked and took another step forward, the scent of french fries and burgers impregnating the air. "Is this some stupid game? Like observing if the rat finds the way through the labyrinth?"

"Partly," was the short response and Dryden absently scratched the back of his cap-clad head, curly brown hair hidden underneath. "Dornkirk is hell-bent on gathering information about his precious little experiment mastering life in our favourite world of unrestrained mass consumption."

"So, by running away I support him even more," Van snorted scornfully, narrowing his eyes and Dryden shrugged.

"There's always a catch in everything, Van," he said with a small smile, before turning completely serious again. "Now, listen! Millerna said they wouldn't need to drag you back for you would come on your own – not voluntarily though. She said that they had something you needed. Do you know what she could have meant?"

"No, I don't," Van answered curtly. "There's nothing in the lab that is essentially to me. Nothing is binding me to it. Absolutely nothing."

"Seems as if I will have to ask a few more questions there," Dryden countered and stroked his chin, an ironical grin twitching at the corners of his mouth. "Time to converse with daddy."

"What am I supposed to do now?" Van questioned when Dryden didn't continue, obviously lost in thoughts.

"Wait and watch your back," he stated simply and watched Van's profile when he turned his head slightly. "If you don't take the first step, they will do. No doubt."

"Dryden, it's not all that easy," the young man replied angrily. "My brother is freaking out about me not having an identity card and sad but true but he's right! I do not exist!"

The man right behind him was quiet and he was about to open his mouth when Dryden spoke up, quiet and curt, "Leave that to me."

Van wanted to whirl around, wanted to grab Dryden by the collar and glare a hole through his forehead for being so damn unpredictable, wanted to strangle him with all the pent-up frustration that had grown over these last days.

But right that moment, the two girls in front of him paid and left him be the next customer, facing the man behind the counter with angry eyes. He wasn't exactly friendly when he asked Van what he wanted, muttering something under his breath when he received the thoroughly crumpled bill the raven-haired youth had maltreated the whole time while listening to Dryden.

When Van finally turned around with the tray, he noticed that Dryden was perfectly avoiding to look at him, his eyes however smiling in the shadows under the cap.

"Be careful," he whispered quickly, directing the words to the ground, before looking up and giving his order with a nonchalant voice.

Something flickered across Van's irises but he blinked it away and pushed his way through the crowd that was gathering around the tills. Crossing the restaurant, he found Hitomi sitting on some kind of bar stool, tearing a prospect to pieces. Her wheat-coloured tresses were tumbling into her face, a heap of paper shreds already covering the table. A tiny smile formed on his lips by watching her but it vanished when his roaming eyes settled on a young man who sat close by the door.

His pale face turned away from Hitomi whom he had been watching and his gaze met Van's icy cold one, a hidden smirk tugging on pale lips.

´´

Reports. Photographs. Statistics. Innumerable sheets of paper. He couldn't see the surface of his desk anymore for it was drowning in paper. He couldn't even tell if he needed everything that lay in an unidentifiable heap there in front of him.

Vargas had his hands burried in the remains of his hair, his elbows braced against the desk and his computer humming beside him. The lack of sleep had dug canyons under his eyes, coating the brown orbs in shadows and new wrinkles had appeared around the corners of his mouth and on his forehead. Right then, one could see every year, the tall man had lived, carved on his features.

His tired eyes came to rest on a photo. The photo of a young man, his head bent down, the wind raking through strands of pitch-black hair. Van.

It had been a while since he had run away. It had been a while since he had looked into that camera with eyes so full of disdain. And it had hurt. It had hurt to see Van confused and angry. It was what Vargas had feared the most; that maybe one day, Van would find out. Would find that he was nothing but a number on a sheet of paper, nothing but an order of letters on a computer screen, nothing but a toy to the people he had trusted.

A light knock on his door made him jerk slightly, and he looked up to find Millerna leaning in the doorframe, a pile of files wedged under her arm. Her blonde curls were tied back in a loose ponytail, a pencil packed behind her ear.

"What's the matter?" Vargas asked raspily and slowly straightened in his chair, running his hands tiredly over his eyes.

"Yesterday's reports," she replied quietly and stepped slowly into the dimly illuminated room, watching Vargas' slumped figure warily.

"Yes, what's with them?" he questioned and looked up with blood-shot eyes when the young woman reached his desk, looking for a place where she could put the files without them getting lost in a heap of documents that was probably like quicksand. "You told me to sign them after I had read through them and then, hand them to you."

"Yes, I said that," Millerna countered absently and brushed a stray curl out of her face, still scanning the desk.

"Well?" Vargas retorted, leaning against the backrest which squeaked feebly in protest, and raised a thick brow at the woman in front of him.

"They aren't signed," she stated simply and finally looked up at him, giving up on finding an empty spot on the desk and deciding to better keep the files in her hands.

Vargas sighed heavily in reply and defeatedly tilted his head backwards, directing his gaze at the empty ceiling. "I probably forgot to do it," he muttered. "Or I signed some other documents that are lying around here. Somewhere in this heap, you'll probably find my signature."

Millerna remained silent after that said and simply watched him run a hand through his hair, the once dark brown almost completely merged into shades of grey. His breathing was heavy and the only noise in the sticky room. She frowned, something missing in the familiar picture that was Vargas' world.

Glancing over her shoulder, she lifted her brows in slight surprise when she found his wall clock stopped dead in tracks, the continual ticking that accompanied the steady flow of time now silenced.

"Your clock came to a standstill," she remarked and Vargas didn't even look at her when he replied.

"I know," he mumbled, the words muffled for he was covering his face with his hands. "I killed it because the ticking absolutely unnerved me. Couldn't stand it anymore."

"Everything alright?" the young woman asked warily and draw her delicate brows together, violet eyes sparkling with worry.

"Of course," Vargas drawled, letting his hands sink, and the sarcasm in his voice was so clear as if it had been printed across his forehead. "Why shouldn't everything be alright?"

"Vargas..." Millerna warned, tightening her grip around the files.

"Millerna, what do you expect me to answer?" the older man questioned loudly, restrained anger and impatience sounding with the words. "I'm worried!"

"We all are," she replied, slightly surprised at the outburst, and her eyes softened. "The current situation is an immense risk for the whole project. Of course, the new information we get are incredible, something we never dreamed of, but when something happens to him out there, the work and money of about twenty years are ruined. I don't understand why Dr. Dornkirk is willing to take that risk."

"I see," Vargas stated and Millerna raised her confused, lilac-coloured orbs at him, his voice not louder than the rustling of a curtain in a light breeze. "This is what's worrying you sick. I understand."

"Vargas, what's that supposed to mean?" she asked slowly, tension creeping over her features and wiping the softness from the corners of her mouth.

"You sound exactly like him," he replied calmly, staring with his dark-brown eyes firmly into her hard ones. "All the worry about precious work and test results and investigation. Tell me, did you waste just one thought about Van? Is one wrinkle on your pretty forehead dedicated to him?"

"Of course!" Millerna exclaimed, outraged, a flush crawling with the anger up to her cheeks. "I do worry about him all the time! How dare you!"

"No, Millerna," Vargas continued patiently like a father trying to reason with his stubborn, pre-pubescent daughter, igniting a flame inside her that had her seething. "I didn't mean if you're worried about the tests you wouldn't be able to do if something happened to him, didn't mean the money that would be wasted and the sponsors you would have to put off. I meant, did you only once worry about Van as a human being?"

"He's not a –- " she hotly started to speak up but was roughly interupted.

"No!" Vargas barked suddenly, rising from his chair to his full, intimidating height, making Millerna cower for the tiniest of moments for he reminded her of a grizzly that had just accidentially been awoken. "Don't say it! Don't you dare say it! All that's left for you to do is call him a goddamn subject and your mentor will be forever proud of you, his precious protégé!"

"Guard your tongue, Vargas!" Millerna hissed, faint red spots that covered the porcellain skin on her hands showing the inner fight she was battling, her temper about to get the better of her.

"Why!" he replied exasperatedly, spreading his huge arms. "I just fear that he'll do something stupid! Millerna, the boy is in a world he doesn't know, a world that doesn't know him, and he's alone! Nobody can understand him! Nobody can understand what he's going through or what happened to him or _what_ he is! He feels betrayed, he's angry and he is alone!"

"What are you implying?" she voiced, a dangerously calm edge to her words and a suspicious sparkle in her purple eyes that dared him to elaborate the thought. "Did you begin to doubt?"

Vargas hesitated before answering, returning her glare with just as much conviction. The air in the room was thick with unspoken questions and mute reproach, making it hard to breathe. "Let's say, I had a lot of time to think."

Millerna's eyes froze over as if the temperature had just went down twenty-three degrees Celsius, a scream of accusation caught in them like a mosquito in amber. "Vargas, you know that I cannot keep up this conversation with you anymore," she informed him slowly, lowly and coldly.

"What?" Vargas mocked and gave a laugh, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips that only barely could lift them. "You aren't afraid, are you!"

"You don't know what you're talking about," Millerna stated in a dull voice that didn't allow any contradiction, the colour drained from her face. "You're tired. Do me a favour; sign the reports and get some rest. And I will do you a favour and forget what had been spoken in this room."

She averted her gaze as if he was holding a shining fruit from the Tree of Knowledge in his hand, a snake winding around his arm and watching her with slim, vertical pupils. Letting the files carelessly drop onto his desk, the young woman turned and wordlessly headed for the door.

"He will not return," Vargas spoke up and crossed his mighty arms in front of his chest, making her stop in the doorframe.

"But he will have to and it doesn't matter if he likes it or not," she retorted flatly, without turning around, the elder man watching her with unreadable eyes.

"I know," he countered quietly. "But he will not return."

"Stop thinking so much, Vargas," Millerna replied icily and pulled the door slowly close behind her. "It's not healthy."

´´

A/N: Booyaa! I live, in case you were already wondering...First off, sorries for the long wait! I was pretty busy these last...er...three months? Oh sheesh, I feel bad sobs But there was graduation, another story that I promised to finish in one go, and a lot of other stuff that I wished I could postphone...umm, let's say, into my next life maybe? And well, when I was not busy, I was lazy...I'm sorry but I'm only human! I hope you can understand that for yes, there are actually people who need sleep! Good, and to all the people who are still (and not always patiently :P) waiting for "Beyond the horizon" to be finally updated, I'll hopefully manage until next week. Three quarters of the chapter are already done throws confetti I'm really glad so many people like it and I would ask you to be patient just one week more, please. Thank you.

**Spirit0: **Hey, there! Lol, I feel honoured that you consider skipping school though I wouldn't update anymore if you did, haha:P And well, if you only want the middle part of the chapter and leave the rest out, the story would end quite soon – considering it is one of my stories...I would have them get together and ENDE :P You want that? And hah, about the tan...I think I mentioned it in one of the very early chapters. It's because of tests coz hey, the tan is a must:P Thanks again!

**Tramie: **grins Thank you!

**dreamingofflyingaway:** blushs beyond red Thank you and I hope I could keep it up...

**dilanda: **wipes brow I'm glad you understand, though I think I did it again sweatdrops Thanks!

**kawaii neko:** Hah, I don't think I did any good to Millerna, did I? The poor thing. Thanks!

**Crystal Night: **sweatdrops Ah well, took my time again. I hopefully didn't scare you away because of re-reading it again sobs

**Myst: **Sorries to disappoint you but I neither managed the month ultimatum nor will there be a lemon scene. Sorry.

**mogocca: **blushs Thanks!

**SabineballZ: **OH! Hab ich dir die email geschrieben? Ich mein die, dass ich die Geschichte unbedingt lesen möchte? Ich hab's bestimmt vergessen! sich an dein Bein klammert und hemmungslos losschluchzt Im Falle, dass du noch mit mir Schusselkopf redest...schick's mir! Bitte bitte! dein Bein nicht mehr loslässt Danke!

**kitsune-girl 370: **grins like mad Hehe, it takes quite a bit of time to read through all of my stuff sweatdrops Thankiez! And I'm glad you understand that I need my time to write it!

**Gwydion: **Lol, I feel honoured that a not Esca-maniac likes my story :P Though there are quite some other stories that are absolutely worth reading! Hehe, I'll hopefully manage to keep you as a reader...and Dilandau will appear again, don't worry winks Thank you!

**Kathy: **And still no end within sight grins uneasily I have to go...

**Geminidragon: **Thanks!

**Esca-lover: **blushs like mad Thank you! And aye, the fact that he flew was exactly what the "clouds smell like rain" thingy should hint at grins Though it'll take some time until he'll be soaring free...if he will at all, that is whistles innocently

**hitomi-chan: **Go ahead, shoot me! You've got every right to...once again bursts into tears I'm so sorry for not dropping a line in years! sobs at your sleeve Thanks so much for the review though! And aye aye, hooking up will take some time :P Can't allow my dear readers to drop back in their seats too early! cackles evilly And mwahahahahahaha, Dilandau will definitely return! I'm glad you liked it and hope you'll keep reading despite my not writing back in aeons sobs Thanks!

**The lady winged Knight: **Well, I'm not hurting him! How could I ever? cuddles Van They hurt him! takes chair and wacks Dornkirk over the head with it Haha, take that! wack Mwahahahahahahahahahaha! wack Thanks!

**Chibipearlball: **grins Thankiez!

**Kya77: **Thanks! I will!

**Anthius: **Lol, sorries, no kiss...yet :P

**RoGuE-WhItE-DrAgOn: **Thanks!

:P bows low Thank you!

**some poor fool who doesn't have an account yet: **Well, go hurry and get one:P Thanks!

**Namesake: **collects the pieces of her story in her palm Thanks for loving it so much :P And for the other thing...just wait grins like a madwoman

**MimiGhost: **Lol, thanks!

**Star-brella: **Sorries, to disappoint you yet again...can't help! smiles crookedly

**CookyButtButt: **blushs like a tomato Thank you!

**aLeQs aka Mizz Chilli: **I guess not but I liked it nevertheless grins like a madwoman Thanks!

**Inda: **Lol, I know! Here you go!

Thanks again to everyone! Next chapter will come! And just in case someone plans to sue me; I neither own Escaflowne nor McDonald's (which I really wished I did coz I would be stinking filthy rich then and could buy Escaflowne, hah!) nor do I own the "If stupid was a sport, you'd be in the hall of fame" t-shirt but a friend of mine does!

Dariel


	11. Curiosity killed the cat

Chapter 11 Curiosity killed the cat

The head-ache causing heat jammed in the streets was so extreme that one was left breathless when exiting an air-conditioned building. The asphalt was quickly turning into a soft and mushy substance, contorting under the weight of the cars that were sluggishly winding their way across the city in endless waves of shimmering metal, exhaust fumes caught under an impenetrable hood of warmth.

This day was promising to be utterly wonderful.

It was perfect weather to pursue illegal businesses and blackmail old friends so to satisfy one's curiosity.

A self-satisfied smirk was tugging on Allen's lips when he threw his papers into his backpack which were followed by a bottle of water and his father's diary. He looked around once more, making sure that he had everything he needed and noticing that his room still looked like a battlefield; his clothes and innumerable sheets of paper were mingling in an undefinable heap on the carpet, his desk drowning in a mountain of litter, an army of mugs aligned in front of his bed with their bottoms sticky because of puddles of cold coffee.

Shaking his blond head and dismissing the mere thought of tidying up as plain suicide, he grabbed his backpack and headed for the door. However, when he raised his blue eyes, his gaze collided with one that chilled him to the bone despite the temperatures outside.

His sister was standing in the doorframe, watching him with icy eyes, her expression blank. They hadn't spoken a single word since their argument about the diary some days ago, which was also the reason why he was living on fast food lately. And judging by the look on Celena's face that spoke more than a twenty-volumes encyclopaedia, he wouldn't be getting anything but burgers to eat for these upcoming centuries.

After holding his stare a moment longer, she haughtily turned around, silvery hair swaying gently and not one syllable breaking the heavy silence. Allen sighed and brushed a blond strand out of his face, wincing when a door was suddenly slammed shut that the pictures at the walls jerked. Even without words, she could make her standpoint quite clear and audible. This had to be some feminine ability; inflicting enormous guilt without a word spoken.

Adjusting his headphones, the young man walked quietly out of the apartment and reached for his bicycle that was parked in the corridor. It was an old one, hardly able to remain in one piece, but he could leave it unsupervised without the fear of it getting stolen despite three locks.

He made it to the police station in fifteen minutes, maneuvering through a labyrinth of cars stuck in traffic jam with a gloating grin on his lips. The scent of coffee hit him like a tidal wave when he entered the building, fragments of conversations buzzing around his head like flies and a telephone ringing in the background. He was rolling his pants back down while making his way across the waiting room, waving at the woman behind the counter.

"Gaddes, my man!" he exclaimed loudly when bursting through the door to the office of his choice, making the dark-haired man behind the computer choke on his water.

Allen plopped carelessly into the chair in front of the table und put his feet onto it, watching with a huge grin as his friend spread the liquid all over himself.

Red-faced because of the lack of oxygen, Gaddes jumped out of his seat and cursed in between violent coughs. "Allen, I swear that one of these days..." he muttered darkly and wiped the water off of his shirt but the blond-haired man simply waved a hand.

"Yeah, I know," he interfered in a lazy drawl, his eyes glinting mischievously. "One of these days, you're going to buy me this forbidden expensive sport car just because I'm such a great friend."

"Of course!" Gaddes replied in feigned enthusiasm. "If I had choked myself to death, you would have heroically called the ambulance, _after_ checking if you can get anything out of my computer while happily munching my lunch."

"I'm hurt!" Allen said, crestfallen, and put a hand over his heart.

"Just face the truth," his friend retorted, unperturbed, and wiped his desk clean, dumping soaked sheets of paper in the bin and casting Allen an accusing glance. "You're selfish and heartless."

"What can I say?" he shrugged casually and flashed a toothy grin. "I can't help it."

Gaddes mildly shook his head and after picking up Allen's feet and dropping them beside the table, he finally sat down again, folding his hands on the desk. "Well, what brings you here?" he slowly asked but suddenly smacked his forehead. "Wait, I forgot! You only come here because you need my help, cannot make it without my god-given abilities!"

"Correct, though it pains me to see that I'm _that_ predictable," Allen replied smoothly and Gaddes rolled his eyes, leaning a bit forward when the blond-haired man shoved a photo across the table. "His name is Van Fanel and I need some information about him."

Gaddes pulled the photograph across the wooden plate and eyed it warily, running a hand through his short, dark hair. "What for and how much?"

"For some research," Allen answered and held Gaddes' stare despite his rapidly beating heart when the man raised his brown eyes, one brow lifted in suspicion. "And how much? Well, let's say, everything you can find about him."

Gaddes snorted when Allen's lips parted in yet another grin and looked back down at the picture of a striking, young man. "You do know..." he started to say, twisting the photo between his fingers but Allen just groaned.

"Don't give me that crap, Gaddes!" he grunted angrily, his blue eyes flashing. "How often have we been through this? I can't count! I can speak along this little sermon of yours! Besides, there never happened anything! The information will remain within these walls. It always has."

Drumming his fingers on the table, Gaddes stared at his computer screen as if his doubts would disappear just by doing so. With a sigh, he straightened and finally began to enter the letters on the keyboard, the pale light of the screen illuminating his face.

Allen leaned back in his chair and stared out of the window at the back of the small office, walls hemmed with filing cabinets. Across the street, he saw the brick wall of the next building, curtains shielding the apartments from curious eyes. He was tapping his right foot unconsciously on the ground, his heart still beating madly in his chest, knowing that today he would take a decisive leap ahead.

"He's not in the criminal records," Gaddes quietly broke the silence, making Allen snap out of his thoughts. "He's clean. He didn't even steal a candy at a grocery store...or at least, he didn't get caught in the act. There's only a Goau Fanel who once went over the speed limit...nothing dramatical though. And nothing that'll help you, right?"

"Is there maybe some other register you could look him up?" Allen questioned carefully and Gaddes frowned darkly. "Like social security number or something...?"

"Shit, Allen!" he erupted and slammed his hand flat on the table, making some pencils jump in shock. "You're threading on thin ice! Very thin ice! The social security records are a strict taboo! Even for you!"

"You know that you owe me, don't you?" Allen said lowly and Gaddes shook his head vehemently.

"Allen," he replied carefully and raised his hands, brown eyes averted. "I cannot do this!"

"You owe me big time," Allen continued, his blue eyes serious. "Last time I asked you, you weren't able to settle the score and promised me to do it next time I asked. So, here I am, asking you to do me a favour in return."

"I'm risking my job here."

"You're always risking your job when helping me," he replied casually and grinned lop-sidedly, leaning back in his chair. "It comes naturally."

Gaddes sighed heavily and ran both of his hands desperately through his hair. "I don't have any choice, do I?" he asked and looked up at Allen with a surrendering gleam in his eyes.

"Not this time," He shook his head slightly.

Snorting, Gaddes leaned over the keyboard once more, his chair squeaking with the movement and his fingers rushing over the keys. "But then, we're even, right?"

"Then, we're even," Allen confirmed slowly and nervously twisted a pencil between his fingers.

He tensed like a cat before jumping after a mice when he saw a deep frown suddenly cross Gaddes' features. "Odd," he muttered more to himself, dark brows knitted, and leaned even closer to the screen, his eyes reflecting the pale light. "Are you sure that the name is correct? Because there is no Van Fanel recorded here."

"Absolutely sure," Allen replied and swiftly rose from his seat, marching around the desk with long strides to look over Gaddes' shoulder.

"Only this family here," he explained and pointed at the screen, quickly glancing at Allen out of the corners of his eyes. "There isn't even a last name similar to this one. Pretty rare name, it seems. The parents are dead but their son's still alive, living here, and..." he trailed off, his eyes darting expertly across the flimmering letters, "they've had another son. A boy named Van who died during childbirth."

"When?" Allen asked curtly, tightly gripping the backrest of the chair, and Gaddes narrowed his eyes in concentration, his finger trailing across the screen.

"Eighteen years and some months ago."

Allen's lips twitched briefly in a triumphal grin and his grasp on the chair loosened. "Can you give me any more information about the family?" he questioned and Gaddes grunted. "Like the current address of the son and the circumstances of his little brother's death. The doctors that were involved..."

"We're more than even after that," he hissed through gritted teeth and turned back towards the computer. "You can take your seat again. It'll take some time."

Allen glanced up and his eyes found his backpack resting beside the table, his father's diary hidden in its depths. "I can wait."

´ ´

Hitomi wiped her forehead and feverishly tugged at her shirt, trying to, at least, pretend that she was cooling her heated skin. Enviously, she glanced out of the huge windows of the _Shiroi Ryuu _and watched the people who had a weak breeze to cool their faces. Usually, she would be the one sticking her tongue out and pointing her finger maliciously at the people out there because she could call the air-conditioning her friend - unfortunately, mentioned gift of heavens had surrendered under the pressing heat with a pathetic gurgle earlier that day, leaving her like coconut ice cream in a desert; painfully melting.

The heat was abnormal, even for this latitude, and people came only to grab something to drink for eating a warm meal was plain suicide. But all those people could leave this place after having filled themselves up with gallons of water and head for the next swimming pool, whereas she was stuck there for the next six hours. She would have to find a bowl where in she could collect the remains of her melting self.

"Why does it take so long until you get a Coke here?" a voice complained from the other end of the counter, making Hitomi stop her previous attempts of fanning air into her face – warm air.

"Yeah, the service is pretty slow!" someone else interfered and the young woman narrowed her eyes to slits.

"If you two only came here to drive me into double murder - " Hitomi growled, resembling a lion that was being tugged at the tail, but only got a ceshire cat grin in reply from both girls.

"No, we came here to grab a Coke!" Yukari chirped and rested her chin in her hands that were propped onto the counter.

Hitomi was still only rewarding her friend with a glare when she walked to get two glasses from a shelf, skillfully filling them with the help of the automat.

"Yeah, and to ask you about your date with Van," Merle continued smoothly with a grin, mimicking Yukari's position, and the glass in Hitomi's hand jerked lightly.

Both girls watched with malicious joy when a wonderful blush crept into her cheeks. "It wasn't a date," she mumbled and put the glass a tad bit too violently onto the counter, spilling some drops of the brown sugar water.

"Oh really?" Yukari cooed and tilted her head to one side, cocking an eyebrow provokingly. "What was it then? A chance meeting in the cinema? Pure luck that you two sat beside _each other_ even? And what a coincidence that you stayed at the same place afterwards! You probably held hands just as accidentially, right?!"

"Van and Hitomi sat in a tree," Merle started chanting, grabbing Yukari's arm and swaying slightly from side to side. "K-I-S-S-I-"

"What are you? Eight or eighteen?!" the green-eyed girl barked angrily before Merle could finish, and slammed the glasses onto the table in front of her so-called friends. Though, she got only innocent batting of eyelashes in reply which enraged her even more. "Do me a favour and grow up! Both of you!"

"Hitomi, chill," Yukari stated and leaned back a little, looking up at Hitomi who was breathing hard, thoroughly flushed. "We were just kidding."

"Yeah, we're only curious," Merle continued and grinned from ear to ear.

"It wasn't a date, okay?!" Hitomi sputtered and raised her hand sharply when she saw that her friends were already opening their mouths in protest. "_Because_ you don't go to the cinema and to McDonald's for your first date, for heaven's sake!"

Both girls exchanged knowing looks, before Merle spoke up again. "You keep telling that yourself."

"You!" Hitomi suddenly exclaimed vividly and pointed a slim finger at the blue-eyed girl, as if she was threatening her with a gun. "What are you doing here at all? If I had done what you did, I would fear for my life when walking the street alone!"  
  
"What did I do?" Merle asked, surprised, and brushed a few pink strands out of her face, looking at Hitomi with innocent eyes like a babe that was sucking at her thumb.  
  
"What did you do?" she barked and Merle just sipped calmly at her Coke. "You talked to him!"  
  
"Oh, what a crime!" the pink-haired girl exclaimed in feigned shock and rolled her eyes, a tiny smirk however tugging slightly at the corners of her lips.  
  
"No, it's about what you told him!" Hitomi hissed. "You probably told him that I was drooling after him or something and that I would soon make a fool out of myself by stumbling over my words while desperately trying to find a way to ask him out!"  
  
"I only told him because he asked," she stated simply and Hitomi's reply faded in the depths of her throat when she suddenly coughed. "Yes, he was asking why you were looking at him all the time - which I find rather bungled, Hitomi, because you can do a better job in checking a guy out without him noticing, it's in our genes after all - and I told him what I thought. He looked so cute when I said him you probably liked him."

"But I thought you..." she muttered and frowned in confusion. "Yukari told me you were making a move on him and if I didn't hurry up..."  
  
"Anyways!" the redhead exclaimed, interupting her friend's train of thought and casting Merle a pointed glance. "How did it go?"  
  
"I dont know," Hitomi mumbled and shrugged her shoulders uneasily, reaching for a cloth so to wipe away the liquid she had spilled earlier. "It was okay, I think, in the beginning. But then, it was suddenly like he had locked himself up in his own little world, a _Do not disturb!_ sign dangling from the doorknob."  
  
"Will you see him again?" Yukari questioned carefully and watched her friend twirl the cloth between her fingers  
  
"I don't know..."  
  
"Gods, Hitomi, do you know anything?" she exclaimed and threw her hands in the air, continuing quickly when she saw Hitomi opening her mouth, knowing exactly what would come, "And don't say that you don't know or I'll hurt you!"

Hitomi's lips parted in a small smile. "Well, do you even want to see him again?" Merle asked incredulously and she quickly averted her green eyes. "And only yes or no are accepted as an answer!"

"Yes," Hitomi whispered and turned away to get the next glasses, hiding a tiny smile behind wheat-coloured tresses.

"Listen," her red-haired friend spoke up after finishing her Coke in one mighty gulp, a determined sparkle in her brown eyes. "We'll meet my humble excuse of a boyfriend in a few minutes but I'll be home when your shift is over. Just call me and we'll think of something to do about...the matter."

Yukari flashed her a toothy grin which Hitomi could only return. "Thank you."

"What are best friends there for?" she chanted good-naturedly and shrugged, making Hitomi roll her eyes.

"To drive me over the edge of sanity," she muttered and put three glasses on a tray, glaring at the two girls.

"We love you, too, 'Tomi," they replied in unison and slid from the stools they were sitting on.

Yukari fished a bill from out of her purse and gave her a reassuring smile, grabbing Merle and dragging her across the restaurant with a wave of the hand. After she had watched her friends leave with a wistful expression on her features, Hitomi turned back to her list of orders and sighed. Only five hours and fifty minutes more to go.

She suddenly felt like bashing her head against the counter.

But maybe if she just stopped herself from thinking of things that would await her after her shift was over – like Yukari's pool or the cold drinks her mother would bring her, with tons of ice cubes on top – time would pass by quickly. She could concentrate on the customers' conversations or on the fly that was circling her head as if she was the sun or on the dripping faucet...

Well, despite her vehement attempts, time did not pass by quickly. It was more like every damn clock in this whole city had decided to slow down and make her life miserable. The last minute seemed to last forever, the slim hand simply refusing to finally pass the last millimeter.

Hitomi was engrossed in a staring contest with the wall clock, trying to fry it with her glare, and a screech of triumph threatened to break from her lips when the hand finally hit nine o'clock and she was allowed to dash from the restaurant – which she did with lightening speed.

A cloak of still hot air wrapped itself around her, by the moment she exited the _Shiroi Ryuu_, the warm colours of sunset swallowing her wholly. Her eyes darted to her wrist watch and back up at the street, her body tensing like the one of a leopard in the one second before getting after its prey. She got two full minutes to catch her train.

"Hey."

Hitomi jumped at the hesitant voice from behind her and whirled around, a sudden gust of wind sending her hair swirling around her head.

Her heart leaped into her throat by spotting a familiar mop of tousled, black hair right in front of her, burgundy eyes smiling. His stance was casual, a newspaper tucked under his arm and the corners of his mouth quirking faintly – probably because of the dumbfounded expression that was etched onto her features that very moment.

"What are you doing here?" Hitomi finally blurted out and Van's jaw stopped working on the chewing gum, his lips parting into a grin.

"Nice to meet you, too, Hitomi," he replied smoothly with a mocking nod of his head and then shrugged. "I don't know. I just saw you exiting the restaurant and thought I could come over and talk for a while, now that you don't have to work anymore..." Why was it suddenly so hard to admit that he had been waiting for her?

"Have you been waiting for me here?" she questioned with a suspiciously raised brow, her heart doing funny things to her voice.

"Nah, I was just reading a bit," he answered with a lop-sided grin and held his newspaper up as if to prove his point. "I watched the people on the street and enjoyed the day."

"And by pure chance you catch the moment that I leave the restaurant," Hitomi stated in a drawl and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Exactly," Van grinned and she just shook her head. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"Well, do you mind spending some time with me?" he replied slowly as if speaking to a child, an incredible patience carved into his voice.

"Make a suggestion and I'll decide if you're worth wasting my precious time," Hitomi countered matter-of-factly and inhaled deeply, hoping for her heart to _finally_ get a grip on itself! Where those untypical words had come from was beyond herself, of course. Maybe something had taken possession of her...maybe Yukari. Hitomi could well believe it of the redhead.

Van let out a deep laugh, and shoved his hands in the pockets of his pants that were resting loosely on his hips. "Seems like an impossible deed to me, considering that I simply don't know this city," he admitted with a shrug, flashing her a thoroughly disarming smile.

"Just the way I like it," she muttered and glanced up at him. "With the decision left to me."

"I knew you'd like it."

It was odd to feel one's brain turn off and she was amazed how he was able to do that to her with only looking at her, auburn eyes twinkling. He was a virus that had entered her hard disk, happily stopping it functioning, little error reports continuously popping up and filling her screen; breathing stopped, heart beating irregularly, eyes fixed on one spot and not movable. Everything, Hitomi had left, was some basic hardware that in her case turned out to be gaping and drooling.

Van tilted his head to the side when she still did nothing but stare, making her blink, and the spell broke. Hitomi quickly averted her eyes and looked down at her watch. "Well, for I just missed my train," she finally spoke up and saw him grin briefly out of the corners of her eyes. "I could show you around a bit. Though it won't be a lot you'll see because we don't have that much time left and it's far from being enough to get to know this monster of a city...plus I have to warn you, I'm a bore."

"Prove it," he replied quietly and she knitted her delicate brows in suspicion, reddish-brown eyes unwaveringly fixed on her.

"Fine, but don't complain afterwards," Hitomi muttered and glared at him, Van raising his hands in defence. "And at first, I have to call my mom and tell her that I'll return later or she'll have some police commando search the city for me."

"Just do."

With a last sceptical glance at him, Hitomi finally turned around and quickly jogged over to the phone booth across the street. When she returned with her cheeks flushed and a scowl on her features, the streetlamps around them flickered to life, a pale yellow light flooding the sidewalks.

Van quickly fell in step beside her and she led him down the street and across a huge square that opened at the bottom of a wide staircase. An artistically illuminated fountain occupied the center and the softly splashing water looked like liquid light, stony lions guarding the treasure that was resting in the shadows of a gigantic obelisk whose tip seemed to touch the velvety canvas of the nightsky.

He followed her past shops with neon light advertisement competing in brightness and colour, past buildings where from a queue of loudly chatting people trailed down the street and through narrow streets where people were sitting outside bars, their faces only dimly illuminated.

"You're quiet," he voiced carefully and Hitomi cocked a surprised brow.

"Maybe you didn't notice but I was talking for these last twenty minutes," she informed him dryly and a small smirk rushed across his lips.

"I noticed," Van countered and she glanced at him out of the corners of her eyes. "But you're quiet whenever there is no club or music shop to show me. No ranting, no questions."

She gave a short laugh and turned her head to face him. "And you know why?" she questioned but continued right on, "Because whenever I say something or ask you something I'm running the risk to hit some nerve that you turn all cold on me!"

"I'm not easy to talk to, I guess," he offered and rubbed the back of his head absently, casting her a wary sideglance.

"You're frustrating," Hitomi snorted and crossed her arms in front of her chest, tilting her head back and directing her gaze at the nightsky that was twinkling past the streetlamps around them and through the canopy of trees that were hemming the sidewalk.

"And though you're still bearing me," he replied quietly and smiled at her, watching her scan the sky like she had done every now and then since nightfall.

"Yeah, though I absolutely don't know why," she muttered and brushed a few stray strands out of her face that the wind happened to play with, teasing her.

"What are you waiting for?" Van asked curiously, cocking his head to one side and studying her profile intently.

"Does it look like I'm waiting for something?" Hitomi asked with a tiny smile tugging tentatively at her lips, briefly looking at him, only to find the wind tangled in his hair as well.

"Yes, it does," he confirmed her and turned away, fixing his eyes on the street they were walking. "And if you don't watch out, you're very likely going to hit some metal pole again."

She grinned and closed her eyes for a moment. "I'm waiting for a shooting star so that I can make a wish."

When he didn't reply, she turned to face him and narrowed her eyes by the sight of one of his brows raised in suspicion. "What?" Hitomi asked. "Don't tell me you never wished upon a shooting star? No heart-felt wish? No certain someone you wanted to badly kiss? No, wait...I'm thinking like a girl right now."

"You're forgiven," he grinned, his eyes still looking out at the street. "And no, I didn't."

"Why not?" she continued curiously. "No, heart-felt wishes? Always been happy in your entire life?"

"No," Van answered after a brief moment of hesitation. "No, I just never saw a shooting star before."

"Some of my friends also didn't," Hitomi replied quietly and looked down at her feet with a small smile. "I was surprised the first time someone said that and I couldn't understand it. How is it possible that one has never seen a shooting star? They aren't rare or anything. They are always there. All you have to do is look up at the sky and wait. But sometimes I think people simply don't notice. The sky, I mean. They're either too busy with other things that they just forget it's there. Always there. Always beautiful. And thinking about it makes one feel pretty pathetic, like one's got no life or something, no things that keep you busy..."

"Or?" he questioned when she trailed off, her head snapping up, slightly startled, as if she had momentarily forgotten about him.

"Well, or people are just not interested," she shrugged and tilted her head back again. "You know, there are only stars up there. And even worse, always the same stars, plus they don't do anything spectacular like playing football, for example. Stars are boring."

"But not for you."

She just smiled a tiny smile as his quiet words hovered softly in the air, green eyes unreadable. "What about you?" she then asked, making him lift one brow. "Too busy or not interested?"

"Neither one," Van answered truthfully, and if she had looked at him that very moment, she would have seen a whole parade of emotions rush quickly across his features. "There just never had been the possibility. What do you wish for when you see one?"

"You don't say your wishes out loud because they won't come true if you do," Hitomi replied quietly. "Though I actually stopped wishing quite some time ago. I just look for shooting stars because I like it and call me crazy but it makes me happy."

"Why did you stop wishing?"

"Because I grew out of childish dreams," she murmured and looked up at him, a brief smile stumbling across her lips. "Like I grew out of Santa Claus and fairy tales. As if a tiny rock can fulfil a wish."

"When you don't believe in it, then you can tell me your wishes as well," Van suggested slowly, blinking his eyes innocently at her and she felt her cheeks flush instantly as if there was a button he'd hit. He definitely was a virus to her system.

"No!" she exclaimed hastily and quickly averted her eyes when she saw the questioning expression on his face. "It's embarressing."

"How can a wish be embarressing?" he countered incredulously, knitting his brows.

"When you wish for a boyfriend, for example, okay?" she retorted in a bark and crossed her arms frustratedly in front of her chest, muttering incoherent words under her breath. "When you _always_ wish for a boyfriend, that is. Pathetic, I tell you."

"So, then there has to be someone because of whom you even considered wishing again..." Van contemplated nonchalantly and Hitomi's cheeks flushed even more although it was hardly possible, a mortified look overcoming her features.

"You just laugh!" she growled without looking at him. "You probably would never make a wish like that. Girls are probably fighting for a better position in the queue that's always trailing in your wake."

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" she echoed and turned to face him, despite the voices that were yelling in her head, begging her not to do so. "I mean, look at you! I cannot understand why you don't have a girlfriend right now!"

Van's lips quirked, indicating that a grin was just about to surface. "Just to reassure you," he began quietly and directly looked at her, his auburn orbs boring right into her ones. "I actually never had a girlfriend at all."

She almost toppled over at his words, staring at him with wide eyes. "The world's coming to an end," she muttered and shook her head. "Did you live in a cave or something?"

As soon as the smile had appeared on his face, it vanished again, leaving his features dark as if the sun had just set behind an imposing mountain range. Without him noticing, his fists clenched at his sides and his jaw set firmly, his mind reeling.

"See?!" Hitomi suddenly exclaimed, making him snap violently out of his thoughts. "This is exactly what I mean! I throw in random things and suddenly you turn all stiff as if you just froze over, with your eyes resembling ice cubes. It's like you slammed the door close right into my face, locking it and throwing the key out of the window! Do me a favour and make a list with words and phrases I should avoid so I might one day be able to have a decent conversation with you!"

"I'm sorry," Van mumbled, surprised at her outburst, and felt a pang of guilt when he looked into her angry eyes.

"Whatever," she replied and threw her hands in the air, before grabbing his arm and pulling him along the sidewalk. "Now come, I want to show you something else and the day's almost over. I won't ever say a word to you again, I promise!"

He stumbled behind a fuming Hitomi and couldn't help the smile that spread across his lips, the stars twinkling down at them from above.

´ ´

When the digital watch at his wrist hit eleven thirteen, Van was slowly walking down a forsaken and dimly illuminated street, his shadow overtaking him everytime he passed a streetlamp. Their pale, orange light attracted innumerable insects that were dancing in extacy, lighting up like fire flies in the dark every now and then.

Van, however, didn't notice. He was busy gently touching the spot where she had kissed him goodbye on the cheek. They had been almost the only ones at the suburban train station, waiting in silence for the line that would bring Hitomi home. She had turned to him when the train had arrived, brakes screeching into the night, and had leaned in, catching him completely off-guard with what she did. He hadn't expected it. But judging by the utterly mortified expression that occupied her features only seconds later, she hadn't expected it either.

A hesitant smile slowly crept upon his lips when he remembered her wide, green eyes, her flaming cheeks and how fast she had entered her train, not once looking back.

It wasn't as if he had never been attracted to a female being before – in fact, he had had a huge crush on Millerna for quite some time – or that he didn't know why he was searching her company; it just surprised him. He hadn't known it was that easy and happened that fast.

He raised his auburn gaze when he suddenly found himself in front of the door of the apartment building where Folken lived. Reaching into his pocket, he fished for the keys his brother had given him, so that he could return home whenever he wanted to.

His arm lifted in level with the lock, he stopped.

Home. The word was like a foreign language, strange to his tongue, strange to his mind, spirit and feelings. Its sound like the taste of an exotic fruit you only heard of or read about, which you could only imagine for you never tasted it yourself. And when you finally take a bite, you want to close your eyes and dwell in the sensation of a new flavour, wishing the taste to forever linger in your mouth.

Rusty-coloured eyes shaded by strands of pitch-black hair, he gazed at the keys resting calmly in his palm, the cold of the worn metal seeping through his skin. He has had a place to stay for all these years, but never had he refered to it as home, never had it occurred to him to call the lab that name.

A hidden smile tugged at his lips when he opened the door and entered, the darkness of the corridor beneath swallowing him and the whisper of the night staying outside. Wooden steps squeaked in protest, awoken from their slumber by his weight pressing down on them, the scent of lime that was peeking through holes in the plaster reigning the sleepy air.

The keys clinked once more when he opened the apartment door and quietly stepped in, a warm light that came from the living room casting his long shadow at the wall behind him. He slipped out of his shoes and by the moment he silently rounded the corner to the living room, three pairs of eyes focused on him.

Van stopped dead in his tracks and cast a brief glance over his shoulder, checking that no Freddy Krueger was standing behind him. "What?" he asked warily, one dark brow lifted in suspicion.

"We got mail, today," Folken muttered darkly and Van also raised his other brow, looking at the twins who sat on the couch across the small glass table, their expressions as serious as Folken's one.

"Yes, this is quite possible," he replied slowly and took a hesitant step towards his brother. "You know, it's a common thing that the postman comes every day and delivers..."

"Van!" Folken interupted him sharply and the raven-haired youth held his hands up in defence quickly.

"What?" he retorted, offended. "Am I supposed to decipher the hieroglyphs you're talking?! If you just told me what was wrong we wouldn't be having this conversation! I don't know but maybe 'We got mail, today' is some codeword for..."

"The letter is addressed to you," his brother ever so flatly cut him off once more and Van's eyes widened instantly.

He strode towards the easy chair Folken was sitting in and snatched the white envelope out of his hands, staring at his name on it.

"There's no sender on it," Eriya said quietly when she saw him turn the letter and he raised his auburn gaze in questioning.

It was creepy to look at both women sitting beside each other, staring at him. It always made him think that there was something truly wrong with his eyes. "You didn't open it?" he asked and looked back down at the white and innocent envelope in his tanned hands.

"No, we thought..." Naria started to explain but trailed off, making Van frown. "Only they know that you're here."

He rolled his eyes when he saw their hesitation and attempted to tear it simply open. "Oh, come on!" he laughed when all three of them nearly jumped to their feet. "You don't think that the whole Dornkirk Inc. staff will jump out of that envelope when I open it, do you?"

His grin vanished immediately when something slid into his palm and he was rendered speechless, staring at the id in his hand. _His_ id. His id with his photo, his name, his date of birth.

"It's an id," he mumbled in disbelief and looked up at his brother. "For me."

Within the blink of an eye, Folken was out of his seat, turning the id in his hand. "But how?" he muttered, shaking his head. "Who...?"

Van was about to reply when something else sliding out of the envelope caught his attention. He stooped to pick up a folded sheet of paper, slowly unfolding it.

_Hey, bird-boy,_

_this is a gift from your patron. Enjoy your freedom! Should the old man try to chase you back into your cage so he can play with you again and watch you sing, don't hesitate to call me. I'd love to trip him up._

_Yours truly,_

_Mr. Everything-is-possible_

"Dryden, you crazy fool," Van added after he had stopped reading out loud, a huge grin spreading across his face.

He knew it was Dryden without a single doubt. It could only be him. The man was a walking surprise.

"I don't think this is good," Folken murmured carefully and twisted the id between his fingers, nipping his brother's enthusiasm in the bud.

"But isn't that what you wanted?" Van exclaimed, a fire suddenly ignited in his eyes. "First, you can't sleep because I don't have an id and now that I got one, you're in a blue funk!"

"Maybe, but who sais you can trust him?" he replied vividly and Van's eyes narrowed in anger.

"Who sais I can trust _you_?"

After Van's words had faded, a deadly silence suddenly overcame the living room. The twins sat motionlessly on the couch, watching the brothers stare each other down with their eyes ablaze.

"What did you just say?" Folken questioned dangerously quiet, his voice laced with hurt.

"You heard me completely right," Van countered lowly, his shaking fists like the little earthquakes that preceded the eruption of a volcano. "Maybe you didn't know but I trusted all these people back there in the lab!

"I really trusted them!" he repeated hotly. "I trusted them when they locked me up in a room with mirrors as walls! I trusted them when they told me my father was some white-haired, old man, trusted them when they pricked my back until it hurt, trusted them when they shot some undefinable substance in my system that had me sick for days! I trusted them when they said it was all for my best!" He had yelled every word, his cheeks tinted with an irritated red and his chest rising and falling quickly. "And now, put yourself in my place, just once, and tell me whom on this freakin' planet you would still trust!"

"It's like playing poker," he continued quietly when Folken wordlessly averted his gaze, not able to stand Van's seething eyes any longer. "And it's always my turn; always my decision to take the risk or not."

"I'm sorry," Folken replied and ran a hand through his aqua-blue hair with a sigh.

"Why's everybody always sorry?" Van snorted and crossed his arms in front of his chest, directing his gaze out of the window, innumerable blots of light illuminating the night. "There's nothing to be sorry for. It's not your fault, is it?"

He exhaled deeply and walked slowly over to where the twins sat, plopping down onto the couch next to them and leaning his head against the backrest. "And there was nothing you wanted to say to this?" he addressed them with a small grin, cocking his head to the side.

"We just didn't want to interupt your brotherly encounter," Naria answered, smiling, tilting her head in return.

"Yeah, you managed perfectly fine without us," her twin agreed and swiftly rose from the couch, strolling at her husband's side and pecking him briefly on the cheek. "Considering you're men."

Van watched her take Folken's hand softly in her ones, a smug smirk tugging at her lips, but found his brother looking intensely at him, with an almost wistful expression on his features.

"Do I have something in my face?" Van questioned and warily raised a brow.

"Yes, a nose," Folken replied smoothly, making the young man roll his eyes. "It's just that I still can't believe it."

"What?"

"You," he said simply and smiled. "You're here in my living room, yelling at me. It's like some crazy dream and every morning I wake up, I think I only imagined it all."

"Every night, I go to sleep with the fear of waking up in the lab the next morning, and nothing ever happened," Van mumbled and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

A heavy silence settled over the room again and Eriya looked from one brother to the other one unsurely, casting her twin a helpless look. Naria just shrugged.

"Hey, Van," she finally spoke up, catching his attention and making him raise his tired gaze. "Are you hungry?"

A look of confusion crossed his features at her words, and he glanced slowly at the wall clock. "It's almost twelve..."

"And?" she chirped cheerfully, releasing Folken's hand and waltzing into the kitchen. "It's never too late to eat. Come, come. I'll quickly cook you something."

"And while we're waiting," Naria continued and rose from the couch, looking down at Van with her blue eyes sparkling mischievously, "you can tell us a bit about the girl you met, today."

His brows knitted slightly, a faint blush rising into his cheeks, and the blonde twin quickly answered the question that she saw forming on his lips. "Your eyes betray you," she smiled and gracefully turned to join her sister in the kitchen.

"Yeah, do tell us about your date," Eriya's muffled voice filled the room, the upper half of her body stuck in a closet while she was noisily rummaging through it.

"It wasn't a date," Van mumbled and shot his brother a dark glare when he spotted him trying to unsuccessfully bite down a grin.

It broke across his features when an ironically and in unison cooed "Of course!" wafted into the living room. Van's cheeks began to glow slightly and Folken walked slowly to his side, patting his shoulder symphatetically.

"They're only teasing," he said and handed Van the id who took it, surprised, and looked up at his brother with questioning eyes. "Let me sleep a night on it. When I'm already half-asleep I cannot react to your arguments properly."

With that said, Folken exhaustedly smiled once more and headed for the bedroom, leaving Van alone with the twins who were whispering to each other whilst occasionally casting quick glances at him. Oh joy.

Tbc...

´ ´

**f-zelda: ::**grins:: Of course, I do!!!!

**SabineballZ: ::**sich am Kopf kratzt:: Ja, ich weiß, irgendwie bau ich ständig mehr drumrum und komm mit der eigentlichen story überhaupt nicht weiter ::seufz:: Mein Fluch!! Aber hey, dir hat's gefallen!!! Freut mich!!! Und dank nochmal, dass du mir die Kapitel geschickt hast!!!!! ::grins::

**kawaii neko: **Thanks!!! And hehe, seems as if I made Millerna pretty evil here :P

**The lady winged Knight: **YOU'RE WELCOME!!! :P And yeah, I know I'm slow uu Thanks for reviewing!!!!!

**Inda: **Lol, yes, I do, despite general assumptions of me dying mysteriously :P Thanks!!!!

**Akari Kou: ::**verbeug:: Vielen Dank!!!!!!! Hab mich als angefeuert betrachtet :P

**Sazuka Chan: ::**winces:: Sorries!!!! It's not that I don't want to, really TT Thanks for reading!!!!!!!!!!

**Keiko Matsumori: **Lol, here is more!!! hands you story on silver tray Though, I doubt you can call it romance...uu Thanks!!

**Tramie: **Glad you like it ::grins:: And deep down you know that you also like Millerna :P Thank you!!!

**Ryuu Angel: **AYE AYE AYE!!!!!!!!!!!!! ::jumps at you and hugs you like a mad goat:: Look, who's back from the dead!!! Canna believe I got one of your reviews again!!! Mwahahahahahaha!!!! Made me sooooooooooooo happy!!! And I think I laughed the loudest about the Rivendell-Mordor express thingy!!!! ::bursts out laughing:: Though it's absolutely beyond me how come to these topics ::shakes head:: Not that I mind, no no!!!! I'm so glad you liked it and donna worry about me dying of boredom!! I get withdrawal syndroms without your reviews!!!! May there be a lot more in the future!! Bwahahahaha!! Thanks so much for sacrificing all the precious time for writing this!!! ::hugs like bearishly and goatishly mad:: Canna write more, no no!! Have lots of things to do coz there isnt so much time left until a certain day!!! Bwahahahahahaha!!!!! ::cough:: Seeyousoonliterally ::cough:: ::grins like mad before laughing like a maniacally::

**hitomi-chan: **Hey, you!!!!!!!! TT I feel so bad!!! ::shakes head before smacking it against the desk:: But I'm glad you're still reading!!! ::grins like mad and blushs:: Thank you!!!! And aye aye, everything will turn out the way it's supposed to :P Meaning, the way I want it to...bwahahahahahahahahahaha!!!! And also thanks for being so patient with me!!! uu

**Sakura Scout: **Lol, I feel flattered, thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**Star-brella: **Oh...someone's violent here... ::backs away:: Must go...writing...:P Thanks!!!!!!!!!

**dreamingofflyingaway: ::**blushs like mad:: Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**aLeQz aka Mizz Chilli: **Allen and Dornkirk kissing??? ::gags:: Ugh...you scared me quite a lot there... ::shudders:: Lol, yeah, I can tell you're obsessed :P Though, who said they were going to kiss at all??? I never said anything!! Maybe they'll never kiss!! ::gasps:: Bwahahahahahaha!!!!! Everything will be revealed when time has come ::bows to the ruler of the world:: You'll have to be patient :P Hope you liked it and thank you!!!!!!!

**Yugismpuzzle: ::**grins like mad:: Glad you do!!!!!!!!! Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!! And usually I'm not the one to press other authors coz I know the not-having-any-time-illness TT ...and you said you would update soon but hey, a bit of good moral support is never out of place... ::grabs you and shakes you very very hard:: UPDATE!!! ::grins innocently:: Thanks for reading, btw :P

**November Dusk: **Thank you!!!! ::grins:: Hope I can keep you hooked!!!!!!!!

**Gwydion: **Hey, you liked it again!!! Although the story is not exactly progressing uu And hah, me looking deeper into a relationship? I feel as if I'm dancing around the subject, stretching it unnecessarily, avoiding to finally take a step ahead...but I'm glad you like it though ::grins:: even if Dilly doesn't show up that much (not yet) :P And don't worry, I don't mind wordy people (most of the time)...can be wordy, too...sometimes...Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

**azncopycat: ::**grins:: Thank you!!!

**Ah Young Song: **Lol, someone's got quite some time there!!!! :P I'm glad I could keep you interested to read the whole thing!!! Makes me happy!!! Thanks!!!!!!!!

**Auroratwin: ::**blushs like mad:: Thank you!!! Mwahahahahahaha!!!! And look!!! ::points at chapter:: I ::points at herself:: did update!!!! Good girl, am I not?! :P

**Rogue-White-Dragon: **Thank you!!

**Sesshomaru is mine: **Thanks!! Though I can't promise anything...reading your story I mean, but I'll try to manage it!!!!

**nagareboshi1: ::**salutes:: All done!!! Thanks!!

**Spirit0: **Lol, laughed at the "three separate boxes" thing!! ::pat pat:: Poor thing you are!! And hey, let the two lovebirds have their time...and me mine ::sweatdrops:: But look look look!!! Some big progress here!!! Bwahahahahahahaha!!! Isn't that what you wanted? A kiss?? :P And I really hope you survived this time of torture (without computer, I mean :P) Thank you!!! P.S. You were the first person who asked me not to update soon :P

**shawni: **I know I'm slow TT But I can't help!!! Thanks!!!!!

**Dark Padme: **Lol, me, too!!! ::grins:: Thankiez!!!

**akai chou: ::**picks up the pieces that were her story from the ground:: :P Thank you!!!!

**A/N: **Back again...but not for long!!! Bwahahahahahahaha!!!! I hadn't thought I'd manage to finish the chapter before my vacation but hey, obviously, I did!!! :P ::pats herself on the shoulder:: Though you won't be hearing from me for quite a while...I'm busy till the end of the month ::rubs hands and laughs like a madwoman:: Ah, and I know that I was crawling along the storyline in these last two chapters...will pick up a run in the next one though ::grins:: At least, I hope so...

Enough of my ranting!! Have a wonderful time out there, people, and thanks for reading!!! Till next chapter!!

Dariel


	12. Butterfly effect

Chapter 12 Butterfly effect

The vibrating air around her was stuffy, used by too many people and dripping heavy with warmth like a soaked piece of clothing. She could feel the beats of the music under her fingertips when she placed her hand on the wooden bar counter, making every fiber of her body swing and her heart forget completely about its actual rhythm.

She twirled the straw that hovered in her coconut milkshake absently between her fingers, swaying a crossed leg lazily while watching a crowd of people dancing close together, violet and white light flickering over an expanse of moving bodies. She was sweating although her only physical activity was breathing and she really didn't want to imagine what it would be like to join all those ecstatic people. It was Friday night and the club was close to bursting at the edges.

Hitomi turned her head when two girls sashayed past her, wearing broad belts and broad belts only. The poor pieces of clothing were trying their best to cover certain body parts and she couldn't help but look down at herself, absentmindedly smoothing some folds out of her yellow, knee-long skirt. She didn't have the self-confidence to wear anything shorter than that.

With a sigh, she looked around once more, absorbing the colours and movements that were her surroundings. Three bars were scattered among the dancing crowd, secluded corners hemming the walls, people using them to catch their breath only to not seldom lose it again when kissing.

And while the music was slowly but steadily driving her into deafness, she was wondering – not for the first time this night – what had gotten into her to agree to clubbing. Ah, right...Yukari.

She sipped at her milkshake and slightly lifted her brows when she saw a tall figure detach itself from the crowd, striding casually towards her. Van's hair was in complete disarray when he reached her side, his cheeks flushed and his chest rising and falling quickly, a satisfied grin lingering on his lips.

They had been out together these last two days. Well, not exactly _out_...they had met by 'pure chance' like Yukari tended to call it and it had only succeeded in confusing her even more. _He_ was utterly confusing.

Looking up at him, Hitomi noticed once more with a sinking feeling in her stomach that his white shirt functioned like a honey pot in the blacklight of the club, attracting complete swarms of greedy, slim-waisted wasps.

It was only a matter of time until one of them would start a conversation with him that he would find so much more enchanting than her humble attempts on communication, she sulked. Hitomi tucked a wheat-coloured strand that had escaped her pathetic little ponytail behind her ear and watched when he drowned his water in a gulp, ice cubes tinkling right behind.

"Wanna dance?" he yelled over the blaring music, the ice cubes that caused bumps in his cheeks making him look like a hamster.

Biting down a smile, she shook her head no and he frowned, plopping down on the stilt-legged stool beside her.

"Why not?" he asked like a little boy who had just been told that the world wasn't flat and Hitomi grimaced when he cracked the ice cubes with his teeth. It was close to biting off a piece of ice-cream; it already hurt when only watching.

"Don't you ever feel any pain?" she questioned and felt goosebumps rush up her arms when the ice crunched between his teeth.

"Nope, I'm immune," he replied nonchalantly and propped one elbow onto the table, pressing his knuckles against his temple and fixing his dark eyes directly on her. It made her rather nervous. "Why don't you dance?"

"Because I cannot dance," Hitomi stated simply and shrugged, stirring her milkshake almost violently with the straw.

"Now, that's no excuse," Van retorted and leaned a bit closer, brushing some strands out of his forehead that stubbornly stuck to his skin. "Everybody can dance!"

"If I was able to dance, I'd say that, too," she muttered and cast a quick glance at him only to find Van still looking at her.

"You're just talking yourself into believing that you cannot," he insisted and turned his empty glass in his hand, making the last remaining ice cube clink from one side to the other.

"No, actually, those people who call themselves my friends told me just that," Hitomi informed him and nodded briefly towards the dance floor. "That I cannot dance. Besides, I don't feel comfortable among so many people. I always think that they're watching and laughing themselves silly about my pathetic attempt on moving to the music. I've got no feel for rhythm."

"Then why did you suggest to go here at all?" he replied and frowned so hard that a deep, vertical crease appeared on his forehead. "When you don't feel comfortable and look rather bored, I might add."

A tiny smile of surrender rushed across her lips when she slowly raised her gaze. "I've got very persuasive friends," she told him quietly and averted her eyes again. "And I'm not bored. I like listening to the music."

"And I promise you, you'll love dancing to it." With that said, Van swiftly slid from the stool and her head snapped around, alarmed, when he grabbed her hands, uncompromisingly pulling her down as well.

"No no no!" she exclaimed hastily, eyes wide, and unsuccessfully tried to wrest her hands out of his firm yet soft grasp. "Van, please, I can't!"

"Yes, you can," he contradicted, determinedly pulling her along, her shoes scraping over the smooth floor. "Just one dance and when you don't like it you can go, okay? Please."

The smile that formed on his features had the effect on her legs that they suddenly thought they had their own will – Which they did not! – and could do whatever they wanted to – Which they weren't allowed! – following him across the club like some little puppies – Which they were not!

She wanted to smack some sense into her legs and give them a good piece of her mind, but found that her hands had turned into a useless heap of goo while resting in Van's warm palms. Just great. What was the use of common sense at all when not a single part of her traitorous body was listening to its yelling?

She was soon thrown out of her thoughts when someone bumped into her and she noticed to her great dismay that Van had successfully dragged her onto the dance floor. Consumed by a mass of twirling colours, Hitomi felt lost and a little more than misplaced; like weeds in a bed of carnations. Her eyes darted around but finding all the ways out blocked by tangled limbs, she focused back on Van and was left gaping.

"How do you do it?" she accused and narrowed her eyes angrily, watching him move perfectly with the music.

"Do what?"

Hitomi rolled her eyes and swept her hand gruffly in a motion that included everything that was him. "That!"

"It's really easy," Van shrugged casually and she grunted, crossing her arms in front of her chest. The corners of his lips quirked faintly when he took a step towards her and reached up to unfold her arms. "All you have to do is relax. Just close your eyes and move."

Seeing the encouraging look in his eyes, Hitomi snorted and reluctantly closed her eyes, willing her body to move.

"This is ridiculous!" she suddenly exclaimed and wrested her hands out of Van's grip, just then noticing that he had been holding them.

Van sighed. "It's not. And look, nobody cares if you're embarrassing yourself or not." She shot him a glare but followed his nod, finding his words proved to be right. People were enchanted by the spell that music had cast over them and probably didn't even notice her. "Just go with the flow."

"Where is the stupid flow?" she muttered quietly and averted her eyes.

Hitomi sensed the movement more than she saw it but was too slow to actually being able to avoid it, his quick stride closing the distance between them within the blink of an eye. "I'm the flow," he replied close to her ear and she felt herself burn to ashes from inside.

Feeling him move, she hesitantly placed her arms around his neck and groaned in mortification into his shoulder when she spotted Yukari and Merle giving her the thumbs up, baring their teeth in broad grins.

´´

The armada of windows that coated the Dornkirk Inc. skyscraper akin to a translucent cloak reflected the night with striking similarity into an endless mirage of light and glass. Occasionally illuminated offices however spoiled the perfect image like a crack in a mirror, like the brief flicker of reality in an illusion.

Millerna sat where she had spent most of her time lately, behind her computer, staring at the pale screen whilst tapping a pencil against her cheek. Mountains of documents were piling at the edges of her desk and within a radius of one meter around it, shielding her from the life beyond her desk.

Dark shadows under her intense, violet eyes indicated that she hadn't slept very much these last days. Actually, she had only slept when her body had forced her to and more than once it had meant falling asleep right on her keyboard or in the middle of a briefing. The young woman hadn't seen her apartment in more than a week but noticed with a pang of sadness that she didn't miss it at all. But then again, who would miss a lonely apartment with bare, white walls and pathetically furnished rooms where everything that ever welcomed you was plain silence and brown boxes with _Millerna's _written across them in fading black were still strewn all over the place?

Grunting, she ran her delicate hands over her face and glared at the screen through the slits between her fingers, and still, the stupid heap of high-tech refused to change what it had been telling her for already one week, when she had entered the calculation for the first time.

To tell him or not to tell him, that was the question.

She had never contradicted him before. She had never doubted one of his decisions, had never called his orders into question, never criticized his work.

With a sigh, she suddenly slammed her palms flat on the documents that lay scattered in front of her. Well, there was always a first time, wasn't there? And it wasn't exactly like she would contradict him. She would just state an advice. Yeah. Just an advice.

Millerna collected various sheets of paper from her desk that had dared her to do what she was going to do now, already for quite some time. The heap of crumpled papers tucked securely under her arm, she marched out of her office, her mission the only thing on her mind.

Just that her mission wasn't that clearly discernible anymore when she had reached his office at the end of the forsaken hallway.

The humming of the ventilation wafted through an inconspicuous opening in the ceiling, filling her ears. The young woman brushed a blonde curl out of her face and proceeded to knock, the sound like thunder across barren plains.

"Come in."

Her grip around the documents tightened, crumpling their edges even more, and she entered. At once, the typical scent of a library surrounded her, radiated by innumerable books and files that filled the shelves hemming the walls. There was nothing else in the room but those shelves and the desk Isaac Dornkirk occupied.

A dim light illuminated his face and deepened his wrinkles even more, his white beard pouring out into his lap like a waterfall. If she had been four years old that very moment, she would have thought him Santa Claus, with a pen in his hand and his eyes expectantly focused on her as if waiting for her to tell him her Christmas wish.

"Millerna," he stated casually and she was sure he would now look her up in his Book of Names to see if she behaved well; and would find that she didn't. "I didn't expect you here that early."

She glanced briefly at her wristwatch and frowned. It was twenty to twelve.

"Tell me what's on your mind," Dornkirk insisted and observed her with intelligent, violet eyes, the unusual colour the result of a failed self-experiment – although the attribute _failed_ depended on one's point of view. "No matter what it is."

She faltered for a moment, her mentor seeing right through her, but squared her shoulders nevertheless. "I've been thinking."

"That's good," the old man replied with an approving nod and turned his attention back to his work, the tip of the pencil scratching over the paper. "After all, it's the job I pay you to do."

If amusement had existed for him as an emotion, Dornkirk would have smiled right then. But for he had erased it a long time ago out of the reason of uselessness, his wrinkled lips didn't even quirk.

Millerna's delicate brows narrowed in plain confusion but she decided to ignore what he just said. "And I came to the conclusion that we should get him back," she finished, her voice shaking and her heart pounding wildly in her ribcage. "Immediately."

His gaze still running over the written lines in front of him, he retorted, "I already started to wonder when you would finally come and tell me that." Her eyes bulged. "How many days do we have left?"

Her fingers twitched. "Nine."

"You're worried," Dornkirk remarked and looked up at her, his voice the usual flat tone, no emotion giving away what he was thinking.

"Of course, I am!" Millerna exploded and spread her arms, an irritated flush rushing into her cheeks. "How could I not? These are just calculations!" She waved the documents about, paper rustling but Dornkirk merely blinked, his eyes however filled with curiosity. "Spat out by a piece of electronic that only deals with statistics! The computer cannot include every exception there is or every sudden deviation! After all, the calculations could be wrong! It all depends on a whole symphony of different factors! What the subject drank, what it ate, when it ate, when it slept, how long it slept, physical strain, stress, everything! It's like trying to predict a lightning!"

With an enraging calmness, the old man put his pen down and leaned back in his chair, folding his hands over his beard. He was silently watching his apprentice, her breathing heavy and her hands covered with red dots of anger. "So, you advise me to get the subject back here..."

"Yes!" she exclaimed with such fierceness and relief that she felt as if all her energy had suddenly drained from her within the blink of an eye. She was tired. Very tired. "Yes. I actually never understood why you allowed the subject to stay away for so long. You risked so much. The whole project is in danger as long as it's out there."

"Without taking several risks, I wouldn't be where I am today," he countered simply and Millerna raised her eyes to his ones again.

"But didn't you fear that something might have happened to the subject or that it could have done something stupid?" she questioned quietly, carefully, not liking the direction the conversation went.

"Like?"

"It could have gone to find help..." she voiced and averted her eyes briefly.

"And what would it have told them, Millerna?" His voice was lifeless like a bare mountain, void any emotion. "I am the product of forbidden, genetic experiments on the human being and was held captive for eighteen years of my life in a lab hidden under the city, please, help me? They would have committed the boy the very moment the words would have left his lips; and he knows it. No no, he didn't go to find help in the way you think."

"But – " she spoke up again but bit her lip when he interrupted her, her hands tightening around the papers she was still clinging to.

"What does a parrot do that just flew through the opened window?" he asked and curiously raised a white brow at her. "It explores, rests in a tree close to its actual home...and eventually, it returns again."

"In case it hadn't been eaten by a cat before, that is," Millerna contradicted quickly and her eyes didn't waver when they locked with orbs of the same colour.

"Van is not stupid, Millerna," Dornkirk stated matter-of-factly. "He knows how to dodge the cats. He did it his entire life."

"Still..."

She was restlessly stepping from one foot on the other, her fingers flexing nervously and something flickering in her eyes that made Dornkirk smile for the first time that day. "I'm glad to see you worrying about the project," he admitted and ran a hand absently over his beard. "And you are right. I've been a bit careless these last days."

"I didn't – " she hastily tried to speak up, a hint of panic in her voice.

"No, it's alright," he silenced her, waving his hand dismissingly. "I wanted to have him back anyways. He's been quite careless as well. I'll grant your request."

The words were like a soothing caress for her troubled mind, and a smile broke across her features like the one of a girl that just found her most desired present under the Christmas tree.

"But then, how do you think we get him to return?" he continued and leaned forward again, reaching for his pen.

"Well, I already thought about this, too."

´´

Up to that minute, she already had embarrassed herself thoroughly in front of him by singing along almost all the songs she knew (very loud and way out of tune) and by proving that she truly had no sense of rhythm at all but she had hardly felt that good in a long time.

Grinning broadly, she brushed a damp strand of hair out of her forehead and shook her head no when Van attempted to stop her from leaving. Hitomi nodded her head towards a bar and he shrugged, following in her wake when she shoved her way through the dancing crowd.

"That was so much fun!" she exclaimed breathlessly and hopped onto a high stool, watching Van dump his chewing gum in a bin right beside the counter.

"Told you so," he countered amusedly and sat down beside her, cocking a dark brow in questioning by seeing the smile that danced around the corners of her mouth.

"Since when do you use a litter bin?" Hitomi replied suspiciously and pointed at the end of the bar, Van leaning closer so to understand her over all the noise. "Why didn't you just pin it under a table or stool like you always do, so that somebody else can have the pleasure of accidentally touching it?"

Deep laughter escaped Van's lips and he fixed his dark eyes directly on her when he straightened again. "Ah well, certain people disapproved of this habit of mine," he stated with a casual shrug and she shook her head lightly.

"What's it with you and the chewing gum anyways?" she questioned and knitted her brows in curiosity, picking at her shirt that stuck to her skin with one hand while fanning her heated cheeks with the other one. The air conditioning and ventilation simply weren't able to fight the constant warmth of thirty-eight degrees centigrade that was radiated by hundreds of human bodies. "All the time I see you munching away on those gums."

He flashed her a crooked grin. "Plain addiction," he answered with a shrug of surrender and she watched his eyes dart across innumerable faces again, resting on nobody and everybody at the same time.

"Everything all right?" she asked, eyeing Van who was craning his neck by then. "You're doing this already for the whole night. Are you searching for someone special?"

Once again, she noticed with a twist of her stomach that she didn't know him. Didn't know him at all. He could be waiting for a bunch of friends, buddies he knew for an eternity already and who knew all the things about him she wanted to know. But right there, in this overcrowded club, with him sitting only inches away from her, she didn't care.

"Hmm?" he replied intelligently and turned his head and attention back to her, remembering her question by seeing the expectant expression that had spread across her features. "Oh, no. Everything alright." He dropped his gaze, only to look her in the eye again a heartbeat later. "But I can tell that something's not alright with you."

"How would you know?" she countered and frowned deeply at him.

"A paper plate whispered it into my ear," Van said with a grin and directed his auburn orbs back down, drawing Hitomi's attention to her hands.

She felt a familiar heat rise into her cheeks at the speed of light when she saw that, without her noticing, she had torn apart a paper plate where once a glass had rested on. As if fearing they would burn her fingers, she immediately dropped the last remains of the poor plate and stared at the heap of shreds she had created, cursing everything under the sun.

She knew that she was downright nervous but that didn't mean he had to know as well.

"Well?" his deep voice shook her out of her cursing, slightly startled, green eyes snapping up. "What's bothering you?"

Hitomi sighed and shook her head, delicate strands that had escaped her tiny ponytail swaying gently. "You don't want to know."

"I wouldn't have asked if I hadn't wanted to know," Van countered determinedly and lashes that had been darkened by black mascara lifted to reveal a pair of shy emeralds.

"You see, I think that I have to make a decision," she huffed and braced her elbows against her knees, resting her chin in her palms. "And I hate making decisions, not to say I despise it."

"You think?" he questioned warily and raised a dark brow, placing on arm on the counter.

"It's difficult," Hitomi mumbled and stared at the flickers of light that were chasing each other across the dusty floor. Looking up at him again, she found him raising his brows expectantly at her and she sighed. "It's difficult!" Hitomi repeated in a yell, her sore vocal cords protesting with pain. "Because, you know, actually I don't know what to do. I don't know what's the right thing to do. If there is a right thing to do at all. After all, I could make the wrong decision and mess everything up...again."

"When you don't try, you'll never know," Van shrugged, running a hand through his tousled, black hair, and she watched him suspiciously. "What is the right decision, I mean."

Incomprehensible to her, she was able to hold his gaze. His dark eyes kept an emotion she couldn't read and he offered her a dazzling smile that he probably thought encouraging but which only succeeded in finishing her already befuddled mind completely off. And in a sudden arising of temporary unsoundness of mind, she rolled her eyes and exclaimed, "Oh, what the heck!"

But before the rational thinking part of her was able to catch up with the part that had an _Out of order_ sign taped across the door (and make her smack herself very hard), she had already leaned in, her lips meeting his ones.

The world slowed down when one heartbeat passed.

Hitomi didn't hear anything when she pulled away, the noise of thousand thoughts colliding within her skull drowning even the roaring of blood in her ears. Her cheeks on fire, she licked her faintly tingling lips and swallowed her heart that had been beating in her throat, before she finally mustered the pathetic amount of courage she could call her own and looked up at him.

For every problem there is an easy solution that makes everything even worse. She had just proved it again.

Seeing the blank expression on his face, Hitomi noticed with the feeling of a dagger in her heart that she had decided for the wrong thing to do.

She opened her mouth to say something, to pick up the shards of the vase she had just dropped and try to glue it back together but he was faster, swatting her hand away.

"I'm sorry," Van said flatly and she more read the words from his lips than heard them. It was as if he was apologizing for bumping into her on a street like a stranger, his eyes looking right past her, and she watched in numb shock when he slid from his stool.

He left her without any other word spoken and without turning around once. Pushing his way through the crowd, he didn't see her slump in her stool and press her forehead against the smooth wood of the bar counter, eyes tightly shut.

When he wriggled through the impressive queue that blocked the entrance and the warm night air wrapped around him, he didn't even stop to take a deep breath or notice the dull noises around him and the pressure on his ears. He just stared ahead, bathed in the light of a street lamp.

This hadn't been supposed to happen.

Running, a desperate hand through his hair, he took a sweeping glance around. Now what? Take the subway home where he would very probably be the only passenger? Go fetch a cab with a driver he didn't know, let alone whom he could trust? Walk back to the apartment for more than one hour, along forsaken streets in a city he didn't know, at a time when even strays slept?

Van sighed and tucked his hands into the pockets of his pants, a few coins clinking faintly. It cost him a smile to persuade the girl at the pay phone to end her conversation and let him make a call. She was about his age, with dark, curly hair and large, brown eyes, probably describing a friend the way to the club.

The pay phone rattled when it swallowed the coins and he heard a faint, clicking noise by entering the number, his eyes trained on the entrance of the club. It rang twice before the receiver in a building seven kilometers away was picked up. Van didn't even wait for his insomniac of a brother to speak up.

"Folken, this is Van," he said absently, the sound of hundred different voices mixing buzzing in his ears when he listened to his brother. "No. I only need a ride home...Yes. Could you come fetch me, please? Corner Castle and Bach, you can't miss the queue...Thank you."

The first minutes of the ride home were silent and Van watched in slight fascination when the artificial joints on Folken's prothesis moved, especially the working of the fingers when tightening on the steering wheel caught his attention.

"How did you lose your arm?" Van asked incredulously, noticing right then that he had actually never asked. He remembered that it hadn't been recorded in the file on Vargas' computer, as well as every other thing that concerned his family after the moment that he had been born. They had simply lost interest.

"Got it ripped off by an alligator when I was sixteen," he replied nonchalantly and Van watched his brother's profile curiously, his features sharply outlined every time they passed a street lamp. "Pretty stupid accident, I might add."

Van raised his brows and Folken merely shrugged. "It happened on a vacation," he continued, eyes fixed on the empty street. "Mom and dad have never forgiven themselves although it had been entirely my fault. I had intended to impress the twins and didn't see the alligator. When I finally did, it was already too late. I had more luck than brains. It is more likely to win the lottery than survive such an attack."

The raven-haired youth opened his mouth and closed it right afterwards when he noticed that he didn't know what to say. He leaned back in his seat and looked out of the slightly opened window, lights flashing past him and a warm draft ruffling his hair.

"I've been thinking, Van," Folken spoke up after a moment of silence and glanced at his brother out of the corners of his eyes.

Van didn't turn away from the window. "What about? Did you change your mind about the ID? It's quite useful, I can –- "

"I've been thinking about everything," the elder man interrupted him softly and Van slowly turned, facing him with a wary expression on his features. "How do you think is this supposed to work?"

"What?"

"This. Your life," Folken answered the curt but blunt question and let the street be for a few seconds to look at Van. "What's going to happen, now? An ID isn't enough to..."

"Dryden can take care of the rest, no problem," Van replied quickly and Folken turned his gaze back to the street, coming to a halt at a red light.

"That's not my point," he contradicted and exhaled deeply. "What's going to happen with you, now? Ever thought about it? Do you want to go to college? Work? Maybe just bum around?"

"I...Folken..." Van stuttered, blinking rapidly in confusion.

"You come here and that's it," his brother continued and turned sharply, looking him directly and intensely in the eye. The interior of Folken's Ford that had long passed the zenith of its existence was illuminated by a dark, red light, casting them in soft shadows. "Did you ever once think about your future? And do you think they will allow it? That you live a happy life? Do you think it will go on like this forever? You said yourself that you didn't know what they had planned!"

Van averted his eyes briefly, guilt washing over him; he hadn't yet told Folken that he was being watched. "Who knows, maybe they'll simply pull you off the street one day and that was that. What am I to do about somebody missing who isn't even supposed to exist? Furthermore, you involve people who don't have anything to do with the whole issue and don't have a clue at all. You didn't tell her, am I right?"

The traffic light changed. "Are you accusing me here?" Van questioned in a low voice and narrowed his dark eyes.

"I just ask you to think about what you want," Folken replied calmly and pressed down on the gas pedal, the sleeping city moving past them again.

"And you? What do you want?" Van exclaimed hotly, straightening in his seat. "Do you want me to go back and let you live your normal life, without worrying about a stranger's problems?"

"Van, stop twisting my words," his brother murmured softly. "I never said that."

The young man glared hard in return, hands curled into fists and harsh words boiling under his surface but he swallowed them, slumping against the backrest. He let out a heavy breath and closed his eyes. The words weren't meant for Folken, they never were. And yet he had used his brother already more than once to give vent to his anger, if it was yelling at him or punishing him with cruel silence didn't matter; he never had the right to do either.

And yet, Folken had not complained once.

"Did you ever think about the fact that you could be a danger to her?" Folken broke the silence once more, his words chosen carefully. "With every minute you spend with her, she's getting more and more involved. If I were you, I'd be careful not to let it go too far."

Van didn't reply right then, his eyes focused on something he didn't even know himself and his thoughts wandering. Easier said than done.

He hadn't seen it coming. For all that was worth, he hadn't seen it coming.

The moment he had spotted a familiar face in the crowd, the face he had been searching for the whole time, a sneer contorting pale lips, she had decided to kiss him. In retrospect, if he had known _what_ her decision was about, he wouldn't have given her this exceptionally foolish advice. No. That was wrong. If he had known Dornkirk's little rat was watching them...

He was such an idiot.

He had known all the bloody time that he was being watched.

Eyes still closed, Van raised a hand and ran it over his lips. "Too late," he finally answered.

´´

Exactly six and a half hours later when the city was yawning and stretching, blinking against the morning sun, Eriya Fanel was already busily working in her office, engrossed in a heated argument with her lawyer on the phone. She was grumpy because things didn't go the way she wanted to. He was grumpy because Eriya had woken him up and he had only gotten two hours of sleep.

"I don't care what time it is or what you threaten me with, Gatti!" she yelled into the receiver and stalked around her desk. "I was expecting the blasted money this morning!"

She drummed her slim fingers impatiently on the worn wood of the table, scratches covering the surface in disordered patterns. "And?" she barked and slammed her hand flat on the desk, pencils jumping in shock. "_And_ it's not there! I promised the bank it would be there today! I already put them off too many times! They will not wait any longer and simply turn off the tap, which means goodbye credit and goodbye – " she stopped, delicate brows knitted, then, "No."

She sighed and looked out of the window that revealed a beautiful sight on a construction work across the street. "Yeah, the documents should have arrived at your office yesterday...I don't know what went wrong. Just put his nose out of joint, will you?...Thanks. Bye."

Eriya put the receiver down and stared at the chaos her twin sister had left on their desk, books piling in every place possible and the lonely vase that kept a dying sunflower drowning in a mountain of documents. But she wasn't angry.

These last months had been full of stress, anger and late-afternoon-headaches for both of them. Inheriting an old art gallery from one's grandmother wasn't as great as it sounded; inheriting the gallery and the debts that is. They had spent most of their time with trying to get donations from somewhere, anywhere, to restore the old building that was closer to death than anything else. And they were still trying.

With an air of resigned acceptance around her, she began to pick up various documents and put them in the files where they belonged. Pick up, cross the room, stuff it in a filing cabinet. Pick up, cross the room, stuff it in a filing cabinet. Pick up –

She suddenly stopped, her eyes zooming in on something that actually wasn't supposed to be _still_ on their desk. Dropping whatever she had just picked up, she reached for the sheets of paper that had caught her very attention, her fingers tightening like claws around them. Now, she was angry.

Within the blink of an eye, Eriya was out of the office and already stormed down the staircase. Like a hurricane, she burst through the door that led to the exposition room where her sister was painting the walls. "NARIA –!"

She stopped dead in her tracks, the words dying on her lips, when she found her twin in an intimate embrace with her boyfriend. It set her blood boiling.

The couple pulled apart and the tall, young man flashed her a broad grin over Naria's shoulder before he leaned down again and placed one last kiss on her lips.

"Enjoying yourselves?" she ground out and he raised a wary brow.

"Eriya, what's the matter?" he questioned and scratched his head, shoulder-long, light-brown hair gathered in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. "Calm down."

She inhaled deeply and smoothed her skirt. "I am calm," she replied and gave him a warm smile, saving her wrath for her sister, and for her sister only. "I didn't know you were here, Jajuka."

"Actually, it wasn't planned," he replied in his deep voice and strode at Eriya's side, leaving her sister smiling goofily. "Didn't have to give this one substitute lecture and decided to drop by for a few minutes."

She nodded and looked up at him, vibrant green eyes smiling down at her. "Don't forget to get your paintings ready," she said. "The opening's in three weeks. And, please, tell your father we're more than grateful for the donation."

"Aye, will do," Jajuka nodded vigorously and held up his arm, pointing at his wristwatch. "But I have to leave now. Can't have my students waiting."

With that said and a last wink at Naria, the art history teacher swiftly disappeared through the double doors that led out on the street, the noises of the construction work filling the hall as long as they were open.

It was ominously quiet after they fell shut and Naria eyed her sister warily, sensing the waves of imminent trouble she was emitting like a radio tower.

"You know what these are?" she pressed through gritted teeth and held up the documents.

"Umm...sheets of paper?" her sister retorted meekly and batted her eyelashes innocently, toying with a strap of her gray overalls that was stained with white paint.

"These are the donation documents you were supposed to mail to Gatti two days ago!" Eriya hollered and her voice echoed within the empty hall. "He needs them to transfer the money on our humble account so the bank will finally shut up and stop sending all those stupid reminders!"

An expression entered Naria's features that plainly spoke 'Whoops'.

"Gods, and I woke the poor guy, accusing him that he didn't do his work properly!" she continued and threw her hands in the air. "This is your fault! You know that you've got a memory like a sieve and still you do nothing..."

"I do write notes!" Naria interfered and returned her sister's steely glare.

"And you lose them again!" Eriya exclaimed exasperatedly and pointed a slim finger at her twin. "Listen up, you'll face the music now! You'll personally bring these documents to Gatti's office and apologize for the delay, right after you put that brush down. If the money's not on our account by noon, I'll have your head and – what in Michelangelo's name...?"

Naria frowned when her twin stopped glaring daggers at her and focused on something behind her, blue eyes narrowed. She stepped out of the way when Eriya crossed the hall and kneeled down beside the small TV in a corner that had been keeping her company throughout the morning, entertaining her with the repetitions of yesterday's talkshows.

Eriya turned up the volume and the voice of a newscaster reverberated from the walls, their eyes widening simultaneously.

"Oh my..."

Naria fumbled with the pockets of her overalls, fishing for her cell phone while her twin just kneeled in front of the TV, eyes glued to the screen and her hand covering her mouth.

Folken awoke to the shrill ringing of his telephone only seconds later. He groaned into his pillow and reached blindly for the annoying phone on his nightstand.

"What?" he mumbled groggily, voice muffled by the pillow.

"Folken!" Naria barked and he rolled onto his back, rubbing his tired eyes.

"That better be good," he snorted and stared at the ceiling where upon his digital clock projected the time in glowing red numbers, his vision still blurred. "It's seven in the morning on my free day!"

"Move your lazy butt out of bed and turn on the TV, channel 3!" she ordered and when there was only quiet breathing as reply, she exploded, "Hurry up, dammit!"

Folken grunted something incomprehensible and stumbled into the living room, hitting his foot at the doorframe. Cursing, he switched on the TV in time to face Van who was staring right back at him from the screen and he dropped the cordless phone, the newscaster's words filling his mind.

"_...according to the statement of the supervising doctors, the inmate who escaped from the mental hospital last week is dangerous. The proper authorities advice not to try to catch him yourself. However every clue that leads to his capture is going to be rewarded..."_

Tbc...

´´

**Sarcastic Angel: **Aye, I am alive!!! Bwahahahaha! Though, sometimes I can't believe it either :P Thanks!!!

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**A/N: **Back again as promised but not for long!! Bwahahahahahaha!!! I'm in a rush right now but for I don't have anything to say at all, it doesn't actually matter!! shrugs Have a nice day, peeps!! I see you around!!!

Dariel

P.S. Disclaimer: Despite the fact that I don't own Escaflowne (which is common knowledge), I also don't own the very true sentence "For every problem there is an easy solution that makes everything even worse." but a guy with the funny name of Hans-Jürgen Quadbeck-Seeger does...or at least, I know he said it. So, if you still think it's stolen, sue him and not me!!


	13. Ask me no questions and I tell you no li...

Chapter 13 Ask me no questions and I tell you no lies

Folken grunted something incomprehensible and stumbled into the living room, hitting his foot at the doorframe. Cursing, he switched on the TV in time to face Van who was staring right back at him from the screen and he dropped the cordless phone, the newscaster's words filling his mind.

_"...according to the statement of the supervising doctors, the inmate who escaped from the mental hospital last week is dangerous. The proper authorities advice not to try to catch him yourself. However every clue that leads to his capture is going to be rewarded..."_

´´

It was a typical Monday morning with little flower shops scattered occasionally along the sidewalks that vanished every day after sunset but appeared right before the sun rose again the next day, kiosks strategically placed at intersections with a cloud of the scent of warm coffee securely wrapped around them, and men and women in business suits standing outside huge office buildings, using their first break to satisfy their need for a cigarette.

Hitomi was jogging down the street, her blue duffel bag slung over her shoulder, wriggling past the people on her way to the _Shiroi Ryuu. _She had just finished her first three hours of track practice after the summer break and was now trying to get to the restaurant in time so to start her shift. But while she was dodging purses and brief-cases, her mind was elsewhere. It had been elsewhere already during practice, out of order since the moment she had gone out of bed.

She had been thinking of only one thing for this whole weekend.

And therefore she hadn't had any time to do something else but sulk over her own stupidity, locked in her room. She had neither read nor watched TV with her brother. She hadn't even spoken with Yukari who had tried to reach her quite feverishly, she could tell. The telephone hadn't stopped ringing until she had pulled the plug out of the socket, had even pretended not to be there when the redhead had been at the door.

Hitomi had hoped that the physical strain of the practice hours would finally clear her mind...hah, in her dreams! He was worse than any advertisement song she knew, burning in the back of her mind, accompanying her every thought like an annoying soundtrack.

How she wished she could turn back time and make everything undone. It was the stupidest thing she had ever done. But who was there to blame? Yukari who had suggested that 'going to a club would be such an amazing idea'! The vibes of the music that had shaken her brain cells to irreparable damage! The tons of sugar in her soft drink! His thoroughly devastating smile...

She shook her head. It had been a spur-of-the-moment kind of thing, something she usually didn't do! The Hitomi she knew was quiet, shy, blushing all the time and rather kept her feelings to herself than scream them out to the world for everybody, and especially him, to hear. But the Hitomi she knew also never got a boyfriend. Then, what was the right thing to do?!

_Well, throwing yourself at him is definitely_ not, a voice in her mind spoke dryly and she felt like smashing her head against a wall to silence it.

She didn't know what was wrong with her. She didn't know what had been wrong with her since the moment she had met him. All she knew was that everything was Van's fault.

He was confusing the hell out of her and made her do things without her even knowing why! What feelings could you have for a stranger? Attraction, yes. An unhealthy amount of it. Curiosity, of course. The boy was a walking mystery. A lot of anger and frustration that were resulting out of just mentioned fact. And still, there was something else she couldn't define...or didn't want to define yet. But it was there, whenever she looked at him, the skipping of a heartbeat, whenever he smiled at her, a pleasant, light-headed feeling, whenever she was in his company, a contentment that made her tied-up insides relax.

Great, and just because she had wanted to sort out these feelings of her she had kissed him? Well done, Hitomi. It had been more like a gust of wind to a heap of documents.

She squeezed her eyes shut about her own rashness. Only the thought of Friday night's events sent a well-known heat crawling into her cheeks and she felt the urge to hide her face under the pavement, so to never see this world and all the people walking its surface, ever again.

She was suddenly and rather violently thrown out of her thoughts and onto the sidewalk when she bumped into an obstacle by rounding the last corner before reaching the restaurant, sheets of paper twirling to the ground around her.

Hitomi rubbed her behind and squinting against the sunlight, looked up into a pair of familiar, blue eyes. "Allen?"

He was watching her amusedly, the sign of the restaurant visible behind his tall form. Fighting down the dizziness in her mind, she was just about to scramble to her feet when she spotted the mess she had caused; a sea of documents that extended to the border of the sidewalk.

Her eyes widened instantly. "I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed and immediatelly began to collect the papers from the ground, her cheeks on fire.

The tall blond just chuckled and squatted down beside her. "Don't worry," he reassured her and piled the files he actually had been supposed to leave on his journalism professor's desk more than one hour ago. "Was my fault actually. Are you on the way to the restaurant?"

"Yeah," Hitomi replied and brushed a light-brown strand out of her face, glancing briefly at her wrist watch. "Just finished track practice," she nodded at her duffel bag that now had a dent right in the middle from catching her fall. "And my shift starts at nine. You?"

"Just finished breakfast," he mimicked her words with a smile and nodded towards the restaurant. "I met Yukari there and couldn't escape a chat. Before I finally bumped into you I was just on my way to college to hand in some work I had to do over the summer break."

"Oh, then I don't want to waste your time any longer," she rambled and shoved another pile of documents in his hands while reaching already for the next one.

"No, it's okay, really. I'm already late, so no need to..." Allen trailed off when he saw Hitomi's eyes widen and her mouth opening slightly, her features a mix of surprise and shock, and utter confusion.

He followed her gaze and noticed what she was staring at – today's newspaper which he had bought that very morning.

In a state of trance, Hitomi reached for the newspaper, her wide eyes never leaving the picture of a familiar face that was titled with _Fugitive still not caught_. "Allen, what...?" she mumbled and looked at him, an expression on her face as if she had woken up and found herself on another planet.

His features unreadable, he slowly rose from the ground and ran a hand through his long hair. "I thought you already knew," he replied quietly and Hitomi rose as well, clutching the newspaper tightly. "It was on the news for the whole weekend."

"I didn't watch any TV lately," she murmured and stared down at the picture again, her mind swimming.

"When was the last time you saw him?" Allen questioned and his piercing blue eyes watched her attentively.

"Friday," Hitomi answered courtly and a new wave of dizziness swept over her. Something just wasn't right. "Allen, I'm afraid but I have to go...do you need it any longer?" She waved the newspaper slightly, the sheets rustling faintly.

He raised a confused brow at her and shook his head slightly, a distracting vibrating at his thigh however making his words die on his lips.

"Thank you," she replied distractedly when he reached into the pocket of his pants to retrieve a slim cell phone, waving a hand at him. "See you around, Allen."

His eyes followed her retreating form until she disappeared behind the doors of the restaurant, before he looked down at his cell phone again which was still impatiently vibrating in his hand. _Number unknown_.

"Hello?"

"Finally!" a masculine voice exclaimed and Allen had to hold the mobile away from him so to spare his ears serious damage. "I've tried to reach you all throughout these last two days!"

"Gaddes?" Allen questioned incredulously and continued his way towards his bicycle that was leaning against a tree nearby, the documents tucked under his arm. He would have to sort them through again.

He could hear the man on the other end snort. "Of course, me! Where have you been?"

The young man hesitated for a moment before he replied. "Busy."

"Well," Gaddes sighed and rolled his eyes, drumming with his fingers absently against the armrest of his chair. "Just wanted to ask if you've been following the news lately..."

Allen knitted his blond brows and stopped beside his bike. "Course I did," he answered and the frown on his forehead only grew deeper. "What are you implying?"

"Do you remember our nowhere-to-be-found friend?" the police officer continued and scratched the back of his head, squinting against the morning sun that was falling through the window. "After seeing him on TV on Saturday, I went to my office and checked the registers again. And guess what?"

Blue eyes widened slightly. "He was there."

"Exactly," Gaddes exclaimed almost triumphantly and Allen could hear the grin on his face. "He was there. Appeared out of thin air with ID number, social security number, date of birth, family background, everything. Everything but the reference to the fact that he was the inmate of a mental hospital. It should have been in the medical records but...yes, nothing."

"Interesting," Allen mused and Gaddes gave a laugh in reply.

"Interesting indeed," he echoed and ran a hand over the stubble on his chin. "And quite confusing when you consider that the psychologist they interviewed described him as mentally instable and dangerous, a difficult case since the day he had been committed."

Not confusing in the least when you considered that the most open-handed donator and patron of this special mental hospital was no other than Isaac Dornkirk, Allen thought and a tiny smile curled around the corners of his mouth.

"I think you owe me an explanation, Allen" Gaddes continued when he got nothing but silence in response.

"Your department set on him?" the blond-haired man replied instead of answering and the police officer sighed in exasperation.

"No, but we were advised to keep our eyes open and stay prepared," he stated seriously, knitting his brows in thought. "Nobody knows, though."

"Nobody checked?"

"Why should they?" Gaddes questioned and shook his head. "We got the complete file from the mental hospital. Nobody questioned it. But you know that this is a reason to start further investigation, don't you? One phone call and we're not the only people anymore who know about all the inconsistency of that boy."

"I know," Allen said quietly and watched the people pass by, engrossed in their own little problems. "I'll tell you...but not today nor tomorrow. Please, give me a bit more time to investigate myself. It's a private affair...please."

"Fine," the short-haired man grunted in the receiver. "But that means you owe me something in reward again."

"I know, an explanation," Allen retorted with a grin and chuckled slightly when the connection was suddenly cut. Gaddes had probably slammed down the receiver in sheer frustration.

The grin vanished immediately when he looked down at the documents in his hands, after slipping the cell phone back in his pocket. University would have to wait.

´´

The noise of still sleepy feet shuffling over a carpet was hardly audible, the rustling of clothes a nuance louder. Water was boiling in a pot on the stove, the sound mixing with the soft splashing of the aquarium and it was almost like there wasn't any noise at all. Almost. If it hadn't been for the spoon that was clinking against the inside of a ceramic mug that was filled with already cold coffee, successfully destroying the peaceful atmosphere. Clinking and clinking and clinking until –

"VAN!" Naria burst through the door of her old bedroom, startling the young man who had been reading the newspaper in the kitchen. "Would you, please, stop that?! It's driving me nuts!"

Van stared right back at the blonde woman, her left hand sinking into doorframe like a claw and her blue eyes ablaze with anger. He clinked the spoon two more times on full purpose, making her narrow her eyes to slits like a cat fixing her prey, before he shoved the mug away.

"Do that one more time and I'll personally chop off your head!" she hissed and Van finally averted his gaze, breaking their little staring contest.

"Maybe it would be the best," he muttered and Naria didn't oppose but raised her delicate brows in questioning, waiting for him to elaborate the thought. She jerked, as well as the spoon in the mug, when Van suddenly slammed his hands on the table.

"Did you read that crap?!" he exclaimed hotly, throwing the newspaper across the table, and her features softened.

"I thought we already talked that over," she replied quietly and cautiously approached the raging youth, leaving the boxes in her room and the packing be for a moment.

"We did!" he confirmed her loudly and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "But it didn't change anything. What are they intending? At first, they don't want to have any attention at all and now, they're including the whole country! Did you see what they added today?"

"Van..."

"I'm not only aggressive and a danger to the public, no, I also adapt impressively and nobody should trust me no matter how believable my stories are!" he continued angrily and glared at the newspaper, the urge to shred it to pieces reflected in his blazing eyes. "As if anybody would believe me!"

"By making you a pathological liar they eliminated the minute possibility that you could find help somewhere," Naria commented when she reached the table and pulled the newspaper towards her, scanning the front page. "Quite clever."

"How good for them," Van snarled and raised his gaze, shooting her a livid glance.

"I'm sorry," she sighed and rested her manicured hands on the table, fixing him with a determined expression on her features. "But you knew something would happen one day. It was never the issue that they would leave you be."

"I know!" he suddenly shouted, the words too powerful for the small apartment, sounding even harsher trapped within the walls. "And you know what? I can just go back to the lab for it doesn't make any difference if I'm there, locked up in some glass cage, or if I'm here with my hands tied!"

"Stop talking such nonsense!" Naria retorted just as loudly, straightening to her full height. "You don't mean it! What about the freedom you were so eager to fight for when you arrived here? Do you want to give up on it? Just like that?"

"What kind of freedom is it I have left?" Van spat and his eyes were burning with restrained rage. "They can control everything I do! They can build a cage around me here and leave me a limited space to live! A space _they_ limited! And I don't want them to rule my life like that!"

"And what do you want to do about it?" the young woman barked and spread her arms. "Go and tell them to stop it?"

Van slowly raised his eyes, the fire that had consumed them only moments before now replaced by an emotionless cold, and the calmness of his voice startled Naria more than his yelling. "Yes," he spoke quietly and rose from his chair. "Yes, that's exactly what I'll do. I should have told them a long time ago."

"What?!" Naria exclaimed and quickly circled the table, following Van to the apartment door. "Van...wait! What are you doing?!"

He had already reached for a gray base cap that always occupied a lonely hook at the wardrobe, putting it on back to front so to hide most of his raven hair. Giving her a look that spoke volumes, he kneeled down and began to rummage through a small chest of drawers right beside the door.

"But you cannot go out there!" Naria insisted and stepped past him, blocking the door. "This is insane! Folken said it was better for you to stay here and wait until this madness calmed down and he is right! Your picture is everywhere and they have the whole city searching for you!"

"Yes, I can," Van stated and stood up after he found what he had been searching for, turning to face her. "_You_ were right. I will not give in to them and do what they want me to do."

Naria averted her gaze and eyed the sunglasses he was clutching in one hand, her fists clenching at her sides. "What if this is exactly what they want you to do?"

"Then at least, it was my decision," he replied quietly and she looked him in the eye again, the tenseness that had gripped her every fiber dissolving into resigned understanding. It was amazing how alike they were.

With a fluent movement, she stepped aside and revealed the door. "Folken's gonna kill me," she muttered when Van reached for the doorknob and exited the apartment.

"Just tell him I overpowered you or something," Van said over his shoulder, slipping on the sunglasses, and proceeded to descend the stairs.

Naria gave a laugh. "That's what I call a bad excuse," she called after him and he stopped briefly to raise a brow at her. "As if you could ever overpower me, kid!"

He couldn't stop his lips from twitching slightly when he turned back around, heading down the staircase and the protesting creaking of the steps following him. By the moment he left the building, he felt like walking against a wall, his breath caught in his throat for a second. The air was dry and thick with warmth, the asphalt of the streets and the houses hemming them functioning like a bowl to save every ounce of it.

After briefly glancing in the sun, he tucked his hands in the pockets of his pants and took a sweeping look around. The street was close to being forsaken. Two women were chatting along the sidewalk across the street, shopping bags dangling whenever they waved their arms about. A couple was standing in the shadows under one of the innumerable linden trees, watching their dog inspect a low, metal fence. Nobody else. But Van knew that he was there. Somewhere. Watching with these unmistakably red eyes of his.

Maybe he was stuck in one of the houses around, forced to watch the apartment building he had just exited. Maybe he was just sipping on a coke, wiping the sweat off of his forehead because it was so damn hot.

Van suppressed a smirk. "Come on, it's nice weather out here," he mumbled and scanned the windows of the houses across the street but the only thing he saw was a reflection of a façade or the sky, depending on whether the windows were closed or not. "Let's take a walk. I know you want it."

A car roared by and Van continued his way down the sidewalk. The noises around him increased continuously with every step he neared the main street, people gathering loudly at traffic lights and a never-ending course of cars wriggling along the jammed streets.

Van stopped at a corner. It was crowded but not crowded enough. He could get on a bus or on the subway. He could lure the albino out of his hiding place. But by doing so, people could recognize him. If he stayed for too long with the same people, they would sneak more than one glance at him and not even the base cap and sunglasses would be able to protect him then.

He sighed and crossed the street when the traffic light changed, a noisy crowd washing him upon the sidewalk on the other side. Hip-high posts that were blocking a wide, plastered street signaled the beginning of a pedestrian precinct and the firsts shops were already luring with advertisement. Although the way along one of the innumerable shopping miles would have been the shortest one, Van decided for a less crowded street. He resisted the urge to turn around. It wasn't necessary after all for he knew he was being followed.

After twenty minutes, he had finally reached his destination; the place with the fountain in the center of the park where he had spent the first day after his escape.

The roaring of the water and pieces of conversations that were hovering in the air mixed into a constant humming, a whisper at every corner, behind every tree, like the very voice of the park.

And although it was the zenith of summer, leaves already covered the paved ground, void any life and water, sucked dry by the trees themselves. They crunched under the shoes like old parchment, a warm breeze scattering the pieces across the place. It hadn't been raining in a month.

People were seeking shelter against the warmth in the shadows of the trees or the fine drizzle of the fountain, the sun casting a rainbow against the fog. The stone wall that dammed the water was a coveted place, a young man protecting his laptop with an umbrella from the rain and a little girl with a red balloon tied to her tiny hand hopping through the water, her dress soaked up to her knees. And when a couple finally stepped aside, he spotted her.

His eyes widened slightly behind the sunglasses, long legs dangling over the wall, her hair gathered in a small ponytail, jade-green eyes trained on him.

Hitomi hesitated for the tiniest of moments when she saw that he had finally noticed her, doubting the plan that had formed during a heated argument with Yukari this morning, the first time. But only for the tiniest of moments. Her growing anger grabbed the doubt and dragged it towards the farthest and darkest corner of her mind, locking it there so to forget quickly about it.

Setting her jaw, she slid off of the stone wall and walked towards him. She had already spotted him the moment he had entered the open place, recognizing him despite the cap and sunglasses for his casual stride and familiar red shirt gave him away.

The surprise on his features was evident and it irritated her even more. Of course, he hadn't planned to meet her there, he hadn't come for her after all. What had she been expecting?

When she reached him, Hitomi was quiet at first, just looking at him and trying to read his eyes through the darkened glass that hid them – but failing.

"Hitomi..."

"I've been waiting for you," she finally spoke when he trailed off and her words told nothing about her feelings, her voice so cold that it sent a chill down his spine despite the temperatures.

Van averted his eyes and absently watched the people around them, pigeons dodging their feet and nodding their heads in unison. "How did you know I would come here?"

"They say that if you just wait long enough at that fountain, the whole city will walk by," Hitomi replied quietly and observed his profile intently, his restless eyes indicating that he was pondering, his thoughts running in two different directions. "And that's what I've been doing. Waiting."

When he turned to look at her again it was like standing in the spotlight, the attention of his intense eyes resting solitarily on her. "How long?"

"Since I read the newspaper this morning."

"And this is the reason you have been waiting?" he asked, his voice frustratingly emotionless again and his eyes cast in a twilight behind the sunglasses that showed them as much as it hid them, like a book where you saw that something was written on the pages but the light wasn't enough to read it.

"There are some things that I wanted to ask you," she continued and focused her gaze on his shoes, grinding her teeth, knowing the her feelings were written in bold across her forehead. "And after everything you've done I think you owe me that much."

"What have I done?" he questioned and the innocence in his voice was the final spark to the gas pipe that had received a leak quite some time ago.

Her head snapped up and the anger in her eyes hit him like the shock wave of a sudden explosion. "You lied to me," she hissed through gritted teeth, her fists clenched at her sides.

"I never lied to you," he countered, his words like a breath of wind to scorching flames. "I never said anything."

"And that's the problem!" she exclaimed and spread her arms. "What am I to think? Can you even imagine what I felt when I saw it on TV, read it in the newspaper and heard it on the radio? For heaven's sake, I spent this last week with you and then I get to know this?"

After silently staring at her for a moment longer, he focused his attention on their surroundings. "What do you want to know?"

"Is it true?" Three simple words but their effect was immense; although she was too angry to notice the surprise on his features.

"What do you think?" he retorted when turning to face her, almost curiously, and she knitted her brows, irritated.

"Why do you care?" she spat.

This time, his surprise was so obvious that she frowned at his raised brows and half-opened mouth. By hearing the words, it was suddenly so easy to understand it all. He cared.

Hitomi didn't take his silence as a good sign. "Tell me, was it some kind of sick joke?" she questioned in disgust. "Using the naïve girl to have some fun?"

"I never used you," Van quickly contradicted and narrowed his eyes, the earlier surprise overgrown by sprouting anger.

"Yes!" she exclaimed loudly. "Yes, you did. With not telling me, you did!"

"You never asked."

She couldn't help but give a cold laugh. "Oh, come on! We both know that you would have never told me!" His next words were nipped in the bud, nothing but beat silence passing his lips. A brief, sadistically satisfied smile rushed across her features for she knew she was right but it vanished the instant she spoke up again. "But I am asking you now. Is it true?"

"Why do you want to know?" he asked, honestly curious, and tilted his head slightly to the side. She sighed in defeat.

"Because I am confused, Van," Hitomi replied truthfully and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, adding in a surprisingly soft voice, "If this is even your real name..."

The young man flinched inwardly, guilt lashing him for making her doubt his every word. "It is," he stated quietly and shifted his weight on his other foot, this being the first crack in his stiff posture, his tightly clenched fists however still hidden in his pockets. Hitomi raised her brows at the spark of hurt she saw flickering across his eyes. "And no, it's not true."

"Then, for crying out loud, what is true?" she exclaimed hotly and the people passing them by that very moment turned their heads. Van didn't even blink. "Why do they spread this kind of news? Why is everybody talking about it? Why is your face everywhere? Why did I end up fighting with my best friend about it? And why the hell did I stand up for you?!"

He lifted his head and found her glaring at him, her cheeks slightly flushed. "I'm sorry."

"Oh no!" She took a step away from him and stubbornly crossed her arms in front of her chest, shaking her head furiously. "Don't give me that crap! I've never asked. Fine. My mistake. But now, I am asking and I expect a damn answer!"

"I can't tell you, Hitomi," he insisted and he saw her jaw clenching. "I actually should have never told you anything at all. I should have never met you. I involved you and I'm sorry. It wasn't supposed to be like this..."

"What wasn't supposed to be like this?" Hitomi interrupted him harshly. "What is it where you involved me?"

"Stop asking."

The words were quietly spoken, yet powerful enough to create a deathly silence. A warm breeze ruffled their hair and picked up a few dry leaves from the ground, sending them swirling across the place. "What?" she hissed disbelievingly. "You tell me to stop asking? Who do you think you are? Do you actually know that you're contradicting yourself in every sentence?!"

"I don't want to lie to you," Van replied and held her seething glare, his words still unnervingly calm and his voice not even raising a notch.

"It is always about what you want, isn't it?!" she exploded and unfolded her arms again. "It doesn't matter what other people want! You don't give a damn!"

"Hitomi," Van began and the stiffness suddenly fell from him, a wary tenseness entering his body instead and he slowly pulled his hands out of his pockets. "Stop it or you will only hurt yourself."

"You know what?!" she barked. "I don't care! I came here to ask you something and that's what I'll do!"

"Please, Hitomi..." he interfered quietly and raised his hands in a soothing manner. "Don't."

But she simply ignored him. To her he was just moving his lips, without any word leaving them. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. "Who –- "

"Hitomi..." he tried again, desperate, his eyes pleading by then.

"Who are you?"

There was no sound but the one of the shaky breath she took after the words had been mouthed. They stood like a wall between them, insurmountable, separating them like a canyon and yet fragile like a soap-bubble, only a word enough to break it. It all depended on whether he wanted it to break or not. And with the feeling of the ground being pulled from right under her, Hitomi noticed that he didn't.

An expression of cool acceptance entered her features and froze her eyes when he averted his gaze. She observed his reaction a moment longer but his silence and blank expression were more than every word could have ever told her.

"Fine," she said coldly into the warmth that surrounded them but which she couldn't feel. She didn't wait for him to stop her because she knew he wouldn't do it and simply left him there, motionlessly standing in the middle of the place that was busy with noisy life.

Seeing her feet disappear from his view and feeling her presence retreat, he lifted his gaze and watched her back vanish in the play of light and shade between the trees that hemmed the paths.

Inhaling deeply, he took off his cap and ran a hand through his messy hair, before putting the cap back on again. It definitely wasn't supposed to be like this.

The situation was slowly spinning out of control, out of _his_ control, everything he had wanted to keep was slipping through his fingers and out of his reach. But he had come to tighten his fists around what was left. He had spent enough time drifting aimlessly around.

Scanning the place, his lips twitched faintly when he spotted group of students nearing a crowd that was gathering around something. Mostly it were musicians or artists who could capture the attention of a whole flock of people. Perfect.

Stuffing his hands back in the pockets of his pants, Van strode casually towards the place of common interest.

´´

Dilandau cursed colourfully when he watched Van Fanel steering towards a crowd at the opposite end of the open place and mingle successfully with the people there. How he hated that boy. He had never met him in person, had never spoken a single word with him but he hated him from the very bottom of his dark soul.

He was responsible for these last weeks, or better to say how Dilandau had to spent these weeks. Either he was locked in a stuffy apartment, glued to the window and watching a certain front door across the street, playing _I spy with my little eye_ with himself, or he was following the blasted boy across the city. And what he more than resented was typing away on his laptop till late at night about what Van exactly was doing all the time. As if he cared!

Dilandau snorted and grabbed his backpack, sprinting across the place in Van's wake. He felt like a damn baby-sitter, chasing once more after an annoying toddler who managed to slip from his view.

Wiping the sweat from his pale forehead, the albino wriggled his way through the crowd with the help of his elbows in search of a red shirt and gray base cap. He received stares from various people who were craning their necks to follow the ghost that was pushing past them, but he was used to it. He had always been stared at, had always been pointed at, always been laughed at and made fun of. He had been an exception since the moment he was born. But he had never let them get to him. If all the harassment had been good for one thing then that it had made him stronger, made him immune to stares and whispering. He just didn't care anymore.

His train of thoughts was suddenly interrupted when he saw a flash of red and he grunted, increasing the force with which he was forcing his way through the crowd. But his journey was soon and abruptly ended when he bumped in a youth not much older than him who wasn't approving of Dilandau's way of locomotion and violently shoved him.

"Watch were you're going, freak!" he hissed and Dilandau knitted his pale brows in slight anger.

Reaching up with his hand, he lifted the sunglasses from his blood-red eyes and shot the stranger a sharp glare. "Move." One word, a simple order, spoken with such deadly calmness that he immdiately got what he wanted. But of course, Van had vanished already.

Shoving past the people around him, with the voice of the magician in his ears who was the center of everyone's attention, Dilandau scanned the faces around him hurriedly. He had to find the boy or Dornkirk would have his head. He couldn't let him escape again.

He had followed Van when he had finally left the apartment that very morning, although Dilandau hadn't believed he would come out of his hole ever again. In a way, he was thankful for he had been about to die, boredom and heat fighting a merciless battle about the decoration of having killed him.

"Goddammit!" he swore under his breath when he found himself lost among the people and too much red around him that wasn't what he was searching for. He wanted to destroy something!

Preferably that annoying bastard who was poking his freaking shoulder!

An insult already surfacing that would have had the lady from the orphanage locking him up without food for a week, Dilandau swirled around and the words died instantly on his lips, withering like leaves under the breath of flames. A storm of applause suddenly erupted around them, the crowd cheering when the magician finished his last trick with an effusive bow and the flock of startled pigeons soaring in a swirl of feathers.

"Found what you lost?" Van asked frostily and something crossed Dilandau's eyes that was hidden from Van's view by the sunglasses, pale skin glowing in the sunlight.

"Yes, I actually just did," he replied casually, returning Van's glare with just as much intensity. However he had to acknowledge that the boy had caught him off-guard, even if it had just been for a second.

"I know who you are," he continued lowly, his gaze not once leaving the albino when the crowd began to slowly dissolve around them.

Dilandau covered his surprise with grin. Dornkirk's little toy wasn't supposed to know. He couldn't know. Dilandau Albatou never scamped his work. "And who am I?"

Van pushed his sunglasses atop his head and narrowed his eyes at the albino in front of him. "The babysitter Dornkirk sent to keep an eye on me," he hissed and Dilandau knitted his pale brows angrily.

"Watch your words," he snarled, angrily tightening his hand around the strap of his backpack. "You're not in the position to talk big!"

"And you're not in the position to threat me!" Van snapped back. "You're just one of Dornkirk's little pawns! He didn't send you to get me or else you would have already done just that...except, of course, you're a complete loser."

A cold smirk tugged at the corners of his lips when he watched his opponent clench his fists at his sides. "But you can give daddy a message. Tell him I'm sick of his stupid games. Tell him I will not let him control me anymore. Tell him I will not return no matter what."

When their gazes were colliding sparks flew as if they were fighting each other with swords, their looks as sharp as blades. Van was the one to finally break away, pushing wordlessly past Dilandau.

"Stupid boy," he muttered and pulled his cell phone out of his backpack, not even bothering to turn around and watch were Van was going. The sound of automatic dialing soon filled his ears after he had pressed down on a number and he scratched his right arm feverishly with his free hand. The pale skin was itching where tiny, red blisters covered it. Damn the sun.

"He knows that he's being watched," he spoke when he heard the familiar clicking of the call being answered.

"That's surprising but not completely unexpected," the emotionless voice at the other end replied slowly. "Although it doesn't change anything. Continue as I told you."

The connection was cut immediately.

Dilandau sighed and rubbed his growling stomach. The brat had interrupted his late lunch, the lunch he had really deserved after staring at that boring building for what had seemed like an eternity. At least, he wouldn't have to follow him through that goddamn city anymore like some dog.

In fact, the albino was strolling along a platform only two hours and one and a half Chicken Supreme Pizzas later. A pleasantly cool draft was lightly ruffling his hair, roaming the labyrinth of tunnels that was hidden under the streets. He could hear the screeching of metal wheels and breaks, the echo reverberating from the stony walls.

The platform was almost empty, the rush of commuters heading home in the suburbs after work already passed more than an hour ago. There were only five other peoples apart from him down there. One of them a young woman, with short, honey-blonde hair, her legs crossed and a flip flop dangling lazily from her left foot.

She was engrossed in a book, twirling a dry ginko leave between her thumb and forefinger, and he quickly read over the cover when he approached; _The Athenian Murders._ Dilandau watched her green eyes dart over the lines a moment longer before clearing his throat. As expected, she slightly jerked and her head snapped up at him, delicate strands tumbling into her view.

"Hey, do you know what's the time?" he asked casually, grinning down at her, and Hitomi simply stared back at him, then turned her head slightly, directing her gaze at the huge clock that was placed right above the display with the incoming trains so for everybody to see.

Tbc...

´´

**Spirit0: ::**sighs in desperation:: You're never satisfied with anything, are you?! ::shakes head:: I give you a kiss on the cheek (well, _I_ don't kiss _you _on the cheek but I give you Hitomi kissing Van on the cheek, okay?!) and it's not enough...then, I give you her kissing him really and it's still not enough!!! What do you want??? Her mauling away on him??!!! :P:P:P Lol, I liked Jajuka as well !! Thought it was funny to pair kitty and doggie up :P And ::pat pat:: for the science test uu But I know you'll survive!! Think I can say you're mad awesome as well (can tell by the reviews :P:P) THANKS!!!

**Tramie: **Oh, I hope that mental institution thingy wasn't...ridiculous?? I thought it was some kind of logical explanation?! ::bites nails:: But thank you

**Inda: ::**grins:: Thank you!! And don't worry, everything will turn out ::coughs:: in the end :P:P

**SabineballZ: **Nah, nisch so wild ::grins:: Ich verpeil auch immer Reviews zu schreiben uu Fühl mich auch immer ganz schlecht...aber freut mich wie immer, dass es dir gefällt ::doller grins:: Und jaja, ich versuch mich zu steigern..

**Sakura Scout: **Aye, you were completely right ::smirks evilly:: Waiting is the magic word :P Thanks!!

**The lady winged Knight: **Lol, thank you!!! But you're not schizophrenic, are you?! I'm not saying it's a bad thing, no no!! We think it's okay!!! :P

**Akari Kou: **Haha, sehr witzig!! Natürlich ist es viel zu schwer zu erraten, wer hinter der Suchmeldung steckt :P ...ich bin viel zu vorhersehbar, ich weiß uu Aber watt soll's!!! Stoffel find ich voll süß ::grins:: und mehr als zutreffend!! Hihi, freut mich, dass es dir immer noch gefällt ::noch doller grins:: Hoffe ich konnte wieder einigermaßen überzeugen!!!! Danke!!!!

**RavenX: ::**unglaublich rot wird:: Hah, ich bin gut!!!! Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!! Sei bloß vorsichtig oder ich werd noch größenwahnsinnig!!! Aber nah, freut mich wenn ich begeistern kann, wirklich!!! ::grins:: So ein bissel jedenfalls. Danke vielmals!!!!!!

**Esca-lover: ::**blushs madly:: Yoho, thanks a lot!!!! And I'm so glad you're back as well!!! Missed your work!!!! I'm looking forward to your next chapter ::wink wink::

**Falcon-Rider: **Of course, it's not all!!! :P Just be patient :P:P Thank you!!!

**Lady Snow Blood: **Glad you found it ::grins:: Thanks!!!

**Ah Young Song: **Ah, thank you for the criticism!!! Really!!! Umm, I tried to work a bit over the scene...dunno if it turned out better or maybe even worse ::sweatdrops:: I'm not that into clubbing...maybe that's the reason ::grins sheepishly:: Hope it was better!! Thanks again!!!!!

**dreamingofflyingaway: ::**blushes:: Thankiez!!!!!!!!!! Mwahahahahahahaha!!!!!

**Star-brella: **Thank you!!! Though I cannot promise anything concerning updates, sorries!!!!

**dragoness: **Thanks!! ::grins evilly:: Don't you just love the cliffies :P:P

**Auroratwin**: ::scratches head:: I do think I know...it was long, wasn't it?! :P Hah, glad you still like it ::grins:: Thanks!!

**Evergladelord: **Bad hmm or good hmm?? I don't mind criticism as long as it's constructive!

**Sazuka Chan: **Glad you managed it though!!! Thanks!!!!

**Kya77: **Hah, to tell and to understand is very hard at times grins Not as easy as it seams...guess they'll need their time :p Thank you!!

**azncopycat: **Hah, tell me!!!! ::sobs:: Let's dream on!! Aye, see you hopefully around!!! Thanks!!!

**A/N: **Yoho, me back again!!! Just a few minor changes in the last chap...that's why I added it in the beginning :P But I know you noticed!!! And then, this thing Hitomi says about waiting at the fountain...I know it's from a movie but I don't know which one!!! ::ruffles hair:: So, if anybody knows which movie it was, please, enlighten me!!! Thanks for the attention and till next time!!

Dariel


	14. Falling

Chapter 14 Falling

A drop of water splashed in the sink.

The twenty-first one? The fiftieth one? Two hundred and thirty-seven? He didn't know. He didn't care. He had stopped counting half an hour ago, his wandering thoughts distracting him.

Could it have been different?

Eyes the colour of garnet glazed over. Sometimes, he wondered what would have been if he hadn't searched his CD's in Vargas' office that day. If he hadn't hit his head at the desk. If the screen-saver hadn't switched off.

The wall clock was ticking faintly, steadily, the sand running unstoppably through the hands of time.

He would still be there. He would still undergo uncountable tests. He would still be the toy to people he thought he could trust, would still think it had to be that way. He would have never met his brother. He would have never gotten to know Hitomi, would not have so many things to worry about that it made his head ache.

He wondered if they would have kept him down there forever. If he would have ever seen the sun, ever breathed in summer, ever visited the grave of his parents. He wondered if he would have died down there, alone, with a bunch of scientists around him who were impatiently waiting for his last breath so to take him finally apart, solving even the last mystery he had kept.

The loud shriek of a little child and pearly laughter suddenly broke the shell of his thoughts, dark lashes blinking auburn eyes back into focus. A grey sky swam into view, the sun hiding behind a thick layer of clouds and painting walls and sidewalks, trees and people in pale and dull colours. It smelled of rain; in every corner, under every street lamp, behind every leaf. The air was heavy with the scent of rain, pressing down on the city, forcing life to an endlessly slow pace.

Although his only activity had been breathing for this last hour, he felt like he just ran the 400 meter sprint. He was definitely not made for this kind of weather.

His bare feet resting on the window sill, Van leaned back in his chair and let his head drop on the backrest. The white ceiling wasn't the least bit more attractive than a sky that seemed to have gone out of bed with the wrong foot.

He was alone once more, with too much time to think. Neither Folken nor Eriya knew that he had been out. They didn't know with whom he had talked. They didn't know what he was planning to do.

He closed his eyes.

These last weeks felt like a lifetime to him. And they were. A life. His life. More life than all the eighteen years he had spent in the lab. His head was aching with the storm of information that was raging within his skull, his eyes burning from sunlight and the flood of impressions that had broken over him. He was exhausted, mentally and physically, the energy drained from his every fibre. Catching up on almost nineteen years in a mere three weeks was more than strenuous.

But he felt that something was still missing. There were too many unanswered questions. Too many questions that yet needed to be verbalized. One was as essential as breathing yet so trivial that he had not considered it until Hitomi had voiced it.

_Who are you?_

Who was he? He didn't know. Van Fanel. A name. A number. A row of letters that could be changed and altered, twisted and turned until he was what others wanted him to be. What was it defining him? Who was defining him?

His family? The people around him? Up until hardly one month ago he had only known the people in the lab. People who had fed him, who had made tests on him, who had made him do tricks. He was wondering if he was more than just a lab rat. If there was any difference at all apart from the DNA.

Could he ever be more than what they had made him believe? Did he want to be more?

He had crawled in a hole the moment he had set a foot out of the lab and had hidden himself. And had pretended. And lied. He had made a mistake and it couldn't go on like this, he knew. Things had to change.

He cracked open an eye and glanced at the card he was twirling between his fingers. A simple, unsuspicious card. A card like hundred other ones, one of thousands. A card that could be found everywhere; on a desk, in a wallet, in a pocket of a jacket. A card that could read everything, from a lawyer to a party service. And this one card which seemed to dance between his fingers read Dryden Fassa.

Call when you need help, he had said. Van still wasn't sure if he needed help. He still wasn't sure what exactly to do.

He stared intently at the card, his eyes glowing with determination. He watched it twist and turn around his fingers in almost hypnotising movements, the neat, black writing on one side appearing and vanishing again. Appearing and vanishing. Call him or don't call him. Inform a stranger about your plans or don't. Trust one of Dornkirk's thugs or don't.

The telephone ringing nearly threw him off of the chair, the card sailing to the ground.

Shaking his head about his own absentmindedness, Van raked a tired hand through his tousled hair and walked to the shrilly shrieking telephone. Dull noises from the street outside swept into the apartment through the open windows, carried by a wave of warmth.

He pressed the receiver against his ear. "Hello?"

Street noises. Church bells. "Hello yourself, freak."

Van's lips set in a thin line and the knuckles of his hand turned white, the receiver almost crushed between his fingers. "What do you want?"

Dilandau let out a low laugh at Van's growled words and sat down on a bench shaded by a huge tree. "I want to see you, of course. I miss you so much!"

Raspy laughter filled his ears and Van's eyes darkened angrily. "Stop bullshitting me."

"Why, it's true!" The grin vanished from the albino's features when he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. Sunlight was throwing moving shadows at his feet. People were walking by, talking, taking no notice of him. Beside him two women were shouting at each other in sign language. "Time to return home. Kazuki Bridge in one hour. Only you. And don't be late for I doubt your little girlfriend will like it if you make her wait.

Van's eyes widened in surprise. "Hitomi? What's she got to do with it?"

Dilandau gave a mock gasp and rolled his crimson eyes behind his sunglasses. "Oh, come on, don't pretend you're surprised!"

"You involved her in this?" Van stepped to the window and looked down at the street. Some people were walking along the sidewalk. Going out. Going home. Going nowhere.

"No, _you_ involved her in this. I'm just taking advantage of it." Dilandau glared at a small dog that was sniffing at his feet.

Van looked out of the window, looked at nothing.

There wasn't a second of hesitation when he decided what to do. He was surprised when the thoughts started forming in his mind, as if they had been waiting for this one decisive moment. And he had thought he didn't know, had thought there were doubts, had thought he was irresolute. Obviously, it wasn't like that.

He breathed out. The sun was sinking behind the tops of the houses, leaving the street below in shadows. He felt calmer now that he knew what to do. A decision. A purpose. A destination. Something worth fighting for?

"Why?" Van fished in the pocket of his pants for a chewing gum but only found crumpled wrapping and remembered he had already had the last one. "Why make it so complicated? Why not just barge in here and take me away?"

"Exactly my thoughts!" the albino exclaimed and sat up, scaring the dog. "It could be so easy! If somebody had asked me, I'd have stormed this bloody apartment and dragged you back but nobody _is_ asking me. Orders are from the crazy old bugger himself. And I'm not a megalomaniac genius, so I don't know what's going on in this XXL brain of his." His eyes suddenly narrowed. "And now stop trying to strike up a conversation with me. I'm not going to socialize with you!"

A brief silence. Another drop splashing in the sink. Two hundred and fifty? "How do I know it's not a lie?"

Dilandau snorted. "You don't."

A click. Dial tone. Van stared down at the street a second longer before he turned and picked up Dryden's card from the floor. He found he didn't need it; he knew the number by heart already.

A familiar voice answered. "Yes?"

"Well, Mr. Everything Is Possible, I need your help."

´´

His hands closed around the desk like vices and his eyes turned almost black in the shadows when his thick brows knitted. Knuckles sticking out white and lips pressed to an almost invisibly pale line, he stared at the screen, a dim light jumping over the wrinkles on his face, stared at the video conference that had been recorded earlier.

Millerna and this blasted albino. He had felt intensely disappointed before the feeling had been smoldered to ashes by anger. He had neither been told about this conference nor about the decision that had been made, a decision he would not have agreed with.

Rage pulsing through his veins like liquid fire, he burst into Millerna's office, the door jerking in fear when it was violently slammed against the wall. The young woman behind the desk started and drew with a biro a perfectly straight line across the documents she had been working on. The expression of utter shock on her features was immediately replaced by anger, violet eyes ablaze.

"Vargas, for heaven's sake, you could have --"

"What in the name of everything that is holy did you do?" he thundered and the echo of his voice made the words die on Millerna's lips.

She stared at him, eyes wide, the silence stretching the moment until it almost tore. Her mouth moved a few times without any sound leaving her throat, before the words finally started to stumble across her tongue. "Vargas..."

"You made this decision over my head!" His paws were fisted at his sides and he completely ignored the look in her eyes that resembled the one of a trapped deer.

Confusion was written clearly across her features and it only succeeded in kindling his anger. "What are you talking about?"

"What I'm talking about!" A hollow laugh left his lips and he took a menacing step towards her. "The insanity that's taking place here! I saw the video conference, I saw what the albino was instructed to do! I cannot recall that I gave such an order!"

Recognition. Guilt. Anger that equaled his. "It wasn't my decision!" Millerna retorted heatedly, rising from her seat but sat back instantly, averting her eyes. "It was his one."

"But he set me on charge!" Vargas narrowed his eyes, distorting his scar in the process. "It is my job to get Van! After all, it was my fault that he left! Doesn't he trust me anymore? Does he think I wouldn't manage it?"

She cast a quick glance at him. "No, it's just that..."

"What?" The tall man spread his arms. "It's the same with going to the media. It's like Dornkirk set the dogs on Van. As if he was trying to chase Van out of his hiding place..."

"Vargas, it was necessary." Her voice was calmer now and she looked him directly in the eye, hoping to break through the thick wall of stubbornness he had erected around himself, hoping to make him understand what he obviously couldn't see.

"Kidnapping someone was necessary?" he snapped and she gave him an icy glare in return.

"We didn't kidnap her." The tension between them was tangible. If she reached out with her hand, she could grab a fistful of distrust and doubt. "She's just a means to an end! And nothing will happen to her. We'll get him to come with us and she can go. Everything is under control."

"Do you think this is a game?" Vargas's voice was no more than a low whisper. "We overstepped the border, Millerna! It was always first priority to keep the knowledge, the staff and especially him away from the public! And now, we involved people who have absolutely nothing to do with this mess!"

The young woman ran her slim fingers nervously through her blonde curls. "Don't worry. And even if she feels the urge to tell someone, nobody will believe her!"

"This isn't poker!"

"Are you implying that I'm not taking this serious!" she hissed like a viper, eyes narrowed to slits. "That I don't know the risks? That I don't know what's at stake? I told you it was _necessary_!"

"It is not!" Vargas yelled at the top of his lungs and Millerna saw his hands jerk, knowing that he was hardly able to restrain himself from slamming them onto the desk. If he did though, it would probably break. "Why do we have to bring him here at all? I could just –-"

"No, and you know it," she cut him off immediately, her words like polished blades, glinting in the silence they caused. "Isaac didn't allow it when you first suggested it and he won't do it now nor ever. What would happen if you went to see him? There wouldn't be any reason anymore for him to come back!"

"But he doesn't even know! He hasn't got the faintest idea of what has been done to him! He doesn't know a thing about the price he had to pay to become what he is! Nothing can ever make up with what we've done!" Vargas was breathing quickly, his white coat tightening over his wide chest with every rise. "If we just told him —"

"Isaac forbade it!" Vargas quieted at once, his eyes turning cold when he watched her rise from her seat, her delicate hands clenched to fists. "Why can't you understand? It is his project and therefore his decision. I know you've been sacrificing every minute to get him back but you weren't successful and we're running out of time!"

"I know!" Vargas' fist finally collided with the desk, making it groan under the pressure. "Goddammit, I know!"

"And you also know that it'll be the end of the project if we don't get him here soon!"

Vargas didn't even blink. He just looked at Millerna with a blank expression on his face.

"The work of a lifetime would be destroyed!" A spark of pity flashed across Vargas' eyes at the passion in her voice. He knew that she believed what she had just said. "And it wouldn't only concern Isaac! Everybody here put their life into the project, their sacrifices! And you did, too! This is your life as well!"

"For how long have you been working here now, Millerna?" The words were spoken quietly and she blinked in confusion, her hands uncurling and her posture losing a bit of its stiffness.

She was watching him carefully, suspicion in her eyes. "For almost four years."

He nodded absently. "I've been there when Van was born."

"I know."

"I've been watching him grow up."

"I know, Vargas," Irritation flashed across Millerna's features, creases following in its wake. "Why are you telling me...?"

"I've been watching him ask about his parents," Vargas continued as if she hadn't said anything at all, his eyes looking right through her. "I've been watching him getting fed with the same damn lies over and over again, watched him swallow everything we gave him and finally watched him stop questioning." His eyes focused on her, the dullness pulled from brown irises like a veil and she saw a completely different Vargas.

"Have you ever thought about your words?" He turned towards the door, continuing before she even had the possibility to digest what he had just said. "Because you should. You really should."

Her mouth opened slightly when he walked out of her office and closed the door quietly behind him, leaving her to silence.

´´

Kazuki Bridge, the city's new fancy accessory. More than one and a half kilometres long, it spanned across the river and a part of the harbour in a perfect arch that reached 90 metres at its highest point. Steel cables that met in two gigantic pylons carried most of the weight, singing when the wind was chasing dust across the six lane street. An architectural masterpiece. A bunch of scrap.

He hated the bridge. He hated the skyscrapers that were sprouting like mushrooms from the ground. He hated this godforsaken Moloch of a city. It was growing like an abscess, expanding and stretching unstoppably, pulsing heavily with the shallow lives of too many shallow people. Their dirt was hidden beneath the glamorous surface and they didn't even notice that they were wading right through it, too absorbed with the fruitless attempts on reaching their own personal goals, trying to justify their insignificant existence, fighting the fear of being too small to ever be of any importance.

And he hated the fact that he was one of them, clinging with all his strength to his pathetic little life. Just another ant in the hill, one of almost ten million, not worth the oxygen it was breathing, easily and immediately replaced should it be squashed under the sole of a shoe, the next one eagerly waiting in hopes to surpass its predecessor. He sometimes wondered why he was still here, still in this city that was too loud and too crowded for its own good. Maybe it was because there was nothing else to do. Nowhere else to go.

"How long do we have to wait?"

Dilandau groaned inwardly and rolled his eyes before he turned around, facing the young woman who was watching him with intense green eyes. When this job was done, he was going to claim a huge bonus for continuously playing the babysitter for the teenage mutant hero bird and his little damsel in distress.

"I don't know, Hitomi." He tried to force a smile on his lips and the annoyance out of his voice. "I told the other guy I asked for the interview to be here at two. I don't know why he's late." And under his breath he added in a growl, "Although I told him to be on time."

Hitomi wiped her forehead and sat down on the hood of Dilandau's car. "And why couldn't you make the interview elsewhere? In an air-conditioned mall, for example. Why are we here in the first place?"

Behind her the skyscrapers were hemming the river bank, trying to top each other in height. In the gorges in between them, people were trying to escape the pressing heat, without success because it was everywhere, creeping through every window slit and in every corner.

The bridge was probably the only place in the whole city that was completely forsaken. It was still under construction, a large part of the street and the railing partially missing, but the construction work had been stopped due to a case of the usual corruption. There were only the two of them.

After glancing impatiently at his watch, Dilandau produced a lighter out of his jeans pocket and started to play with it. "Because I wanted it."

Hitomi watched him opening and closing the metal lighter with growing amusement. "You're not gonna smoke?"

"I don't smoke." He pushed his sunglasses up his pale nose and averted his eyes. "It's unhealthy."

She bit down a grin and looked down at the river that was quietly flowing beneath their feet, seagulls floating weightlessly over the water. Its level was lower than usual. It hadn't rained in long time.

Hitomi had been scared out of her wits when she had met the albino the first time. Looming over her, a wide grin set in a face with the complexion of a ghost and his eyes hidden behind too dark sunglasses, he hadn't exactly been the epitome of trustworthy.

She still wouldn't leave him alone in a room with her brother but now that she had spent some time with him, she found he wasn't so scary anymore. At least now she knew that hiding under the scary albino crust, there was a bored little boy.

Dilandau had asked her for the interview after she had had the conversation with Van. Conversation. She felt like laughing.

Van. She had sworn herself not to waste another thought on him but had found it impossible at the same time. The harder she fought him from his mind, the more she thought of him. But it was useless. Why thinking of him when she didn't know what to think of him?

Angry. Sad. Disappointed. The feelings altered, mixed, merged, when she thought about what he had told her – or hadn't told her. She did trust him. She had thought he trusted her. A fallacy.

Hitomi wanted to scream her frustration out to the world. She trusted him but she didn't want to. She believed him but she couldn't tell why. It would be so much easier if she knew he were lying.

A walking contradiction, that is what he was. The report about him hadn't stopped yet. His face was still on TV, still in the newspapers. He was still supposed to be a fugitive. He had said it wasn't true. She believed him. What was she supposed to do? What was the right thing to do?

"Was about damn time!"

Dilandau's angry yell made her snap out of her thoughts and she looked up, watching a figure peeling from the background of the city. A familiar figure. Green eyes widened in recognition.

"What does this mean?"

Dilandau completely ignored her and walked straight towards Van, suppressed rage written all over his features. Hitomi's eyes narrowed and she was about to open her mouth again when she met Van's eyes. Cold. The words froze on her lips.

"You were supposed to be here half an hour ago," the albino hissed through gritted teeth.

In the middle of the bridge it was almost completely quiet, the noise of the city hardly reaching so far across the river. Van shifted his gaze to Dilandau, merely raising a dark brow. "Well, I'm here now. What did you tell her?"

He rolled his eyes. "She doesn't know anything. Do you think I'm completely out of my mind?"

Van took off his cap and ran a hand through his hair, his gaze darting over the river, the skyline of the city and back at Dilandau. "Why this game? Why let me go and then get me back anyways?"

"How the fuck should I know?" Dilandau spread his arms. "I'm just the lackey not some bloody insider. They don't tell me everything and I don't ask. I get my money at the end of the month and I'm happy. If you want to know the meaning of your insignificant life, go ask your creator!"

The young man still seemed distracted, his thoughts focused on something else. "What if I told you I went to get help?"

"Well, first off, I'd laugh." Dilandau shrugged and an amused grin twitched around the corners of his lips. "I'd laugh my head off and then I'd ask you how the hell you got help. Your pathetic excuse of a family? I'd be scared out of my dirty socks, really."

Van was watching Hitomi. She was watching him. What was she thinking? Of this situation? Of him? Did she believe the media? Did she believe him? Did she care?

"Reminds me of something though. Let me ask a question, you know before I pack you up for good." The albino peered at Van from behind his dark sunglasses. "I know you're not stupid, then why didn't you go to the press? All you needed to do was flash the feathers and you would've been in business. And they would have believed you, no doubt."

Silence settled around them after the words had faded into the grey summer sky and Dilandau almost thought he wouldn't get an answer. He was just about to add a pointed remark when Van spoke up, quiet and controlled.

"I thought it wouldn't have changed my situation. What would it have changed if your employer had been after me or the media? If Dornkirk's scientists had examined me or some other ones didn't make much of a difference to me. I didn't want to become a public exhibition object." Past tense. Was he sure about it?

Dilandau gave a laugh. "Well, you are. Stop whining and put up with it!"

Van's eyes narrowed. "Why did Dornkirk set the dogs on me anyways? I thought he didn't want any attention."

"Beats me." He shrugged. "I told you I have no idea. Maybe so you wouldn't leave the city or country or whatever. In the beginning Dornkirk was pretty calm about the whole deal but maybe he got scared or something. Why didn't you just leave anyways? If I were you, I'd have been off to Mexico or whatever."

Mexico. And then what? Hide? Hide and seek for the rest of his life? What difference to now? Folken? His parents? Hitomi? "I didn't want to."

"Maybe I was wrong and you are stupid after all." Dilandau sighed dramatically and nodded his head at his car. "Doesn't matter. You'll get in the car now and come with me."

A helicopter could be heard over the faint street noises. "And what if I don't?"

"Wait." The two of them turned to look at Hitomi who had hopped off the hood of the car and was approaching them with long, confident strides. Anger, confusion, distrust. It was all there, clearly written across her features. "You said this was going to be an interview. What does this mean?"

Dilandau gave her a dry, thoroughly bored look. The masquerade had come to an end. "Well, I lied. Now shut up and come here."

"But..." Hitomi didn't come to finish her sentence for Dilandau roughly seized her arm and dragged her away from Van.

"Come here I said!" Hitomi flinched when he tightened the grip around her arm and shoved her towards the unfinished end of the bridge. Steely bars were sticking out of the concrete, pointing out across the river like scrawny fingers. She felt a sudden surge of panic rise in her throat when she saw the river gurgling beneath her feet and turned her head sharply to look at Van, finding that he seemed shocked as well.

A thousand thoughts were racing through her mind, words that made no sense. What was happening? Who were these people? What were they doing? Hundreds of possibilities that made no sense. Contradictory. Confusing. Wake up!

Her heart was beating wildly, her chest rising and falling quickly, strained, panicked. Not even one foot away from her the bridge ended, beyond it there was nothing and then, water. Hard as concrete. She couldn't think. The roaring of the helicopter was deafening. "Let go of me!"

"Listen, _Van_," Dilandau spat and gave Hitomi a slight push, making her yelp and fight his grip. "I was advised to not cause her any harm but I was not forbidden to do so. So, this can be really nice with you getting in the car and her returning, a bit shaken and confused, but without anything that cannot be cured by some ice cream. Or you don't get in the car and you've seen her for the last time, that I promise you."

He had to scream the last words over the noise of the helicopter that was circling over their heads. Something was going wrong. The wind it caused sent dust flying across the street, whipping their hair into their faces.

"What the fuck!" Dilandau yelled and looked up, shielding his eyes against the dust with one hand. _Channel Two_ written in glowing red was staring right back at him from the fuselage of the helicopter.

Van didn't look up. He didn't need to. He knew.

Hitomi's gaze darted back to Dilandau, her hair whipping around her face. Voices inside her head were screaming, telling her what to do, telling her what to think. She couldn't understand one of them.

There was a moment of hesitation when she was staring intently at Dilandau's profile, finding he was distracted. And suddenly, drunken with adrenaline, her blood roaring in her ears, she kicked him hard in the hollow of his right knee. Van was watching and knew what was bound to happen. It was like watching a car crash in slow motion, knowing there was nothing he could do to prevent it.

Dilandau cried out in surprise and pain. He staggered and in reflex, yanked briefly on her arm which he was still holding. It was enough to throw her off balance. It was enough to make her stumble. Her arms were outstretched. In vain.

She stood at the edge in a grotesque position, features ashen and eyes wide and for the longest second, she was not moving. Van wanted to reach out and grab her arm, stop her from falling but found he wasn't moving either.

It was time to choose. Time to decide. But there was no time to think. He didn't need it. The decision had long been made.

A piercing scream finally broke from Hitomi's lips, tearing the silence violently to pieces, and Van ran. He wasn't thinking. He couldn't think. Stones were crunching under his shoes. Debris. Nothing.

Van felt himself gasp when he reached the edge, the river spread out beneath him like a cloth, rippling softly, faintly. Brown-green filled his vision. Everywhere. Consuming him. He felt weightless. He noticed he was already falling.

He could see Hitomi. She was there, her outlines clear against the dark surface of the river. Falling. Coming closer. Mouth wide-open and a scream frozen on her lips. Her eyes had widened out of focus, tears not able to gather at the corners for they were violently torn away before they could touch her skin. They touched his one instead.

He grasped her hand and every noise seemed to die down around him. The roaring of the wind. The rotor of the helicopter. The murmur of the river. The rustling of clothes. As if the world was holding its breath in anticipation for what was about to happen.

And it happened. Quietly but unstoppably. The tensing of muscles. Movements under skin. The first tearing of clothing in the silence between two heartbeats.

Life was caught in the moment the wings broke forth from Van's back in a whirlwind of feathers, the dimmed sunlight reflected on them in its purest form, a blinding white wrapped around him. It happened so fast. Too fast.

The second he connected with Hitomi, his arms went painfully tight around her, knowing that she wouldn't be able to take a hold on him herself. He closed his eyes tightly when he spread his wings to slow down their fall, grinding his teeth when his muscles screamed in protest, the wind caught in a swirl of white. It felt like someone was trying to rip his wings out, worse than any examination before.

And the eyes of the world were watching. In the helicopter. In front of the innumerable vans along the bank of the river. Cameras swung on tripods and shoulders. Red lights flashed. Objectives focused. And fifteen minutes later, when the pictures had been cut and sent to the television stations, they would be broadcasted in households from Alaska to Canberra. And a gasp would cross the globe like the concussion wave of an earthquake.

And people would see something that was beyond words. Not meant to be spoken. Not meant to be explained. Not meant to be understood.

Van didn't notice. He couldn't, his mind focused on other things. He could feel the distance shrinking between the two of them and the river. His wings were hurting, his back burning with pain, his muscles seeming to tear at any second. How long did it take to fall ninety meters? Time had never stretched so much before. The longest six seconds of his life.

He flapped his wings, his lungs burning when he took a breath. They were falling too fast. They were too heavy. Five meters. The river was speeding past beneath them when Van could finally stop their fall, his reflection distorted and the tips of his wings touching the sparkling surface with each heavy flap when they were gliding across it.

The water rippled where white feathers silently rained down from the grey sky.

´´

The clear laughter of children echoed in her ears, fading into the summer sky. A pressing sultriness was mooching in the streets of the city, the thick layer of clouds that was hiding the sun annunciating rain.

Celena wiped her sweaty forehead, brushing a few silvery strands out of her eyes. Sighing, she propped her elbow onto the table and continued to spoon stracciatella ice cream into her mouth. Shaded by long lashes, her bright blue eyes were observing the two little girls who were sharing her table and kept spitting melon seeds at each other.

"Hey, stop that!" Two heads snapped around at her sharp order, brown curls bouncing and Celena knitted her brows at the treacherous innocence in those big, fawn eyes.

The taller girl reached out a hand to tug at her younger sister's pigtails. "Yeah, stop it, Rina."

"You started it!" Rina complained hotly and Celena rolled her eyes when they started bickering, smacking each other on the arm and over the head.

They were sitting outside an ice cream parlour, the shadow under the huge sunshades crowded with chatting people. A waiter balanced a tray full of exotic ice creations past her and she asked him for another spoon when Rina's one went flying out onto the sidewalk after missing her sister's head by an inch. It clinked over the concrete.

She sighed and sank deeper into her chair, the bast creaking softly. Why she had agreed to baby-sit the ten- and six-year-old devils was beyond her. "Where's your brother anyway? He should have been here forty minutes ago."

"I don't know." Sophie shook a melon seed out of her short, curly hair and shrugged. "He probably had to work overtime again but you can just ask him yourself."

Celena turned in her seat when the girl nodded her head slightly and found a familiar figure peeling from the bustle on the sidewalk. The young man who was approaching their table had his hands in the pockets of his pants and a sheepish smile on his features, a head scarf hiding his hair. And suddenly she remembered why she had so enthusiastically agreed on baby-sitting. She smiled.

"Hey, Miguel."

"Sorry, Celena." He quickly reached out to smack his sisters over the head when they started to make smooching noises and unsuccessfully tried to hide his blush. "I wanted to call you but my cell phone died."

She ran a hand through her blonde hair. "It's alright. We had a lot of fun."

"Yeah, we were spitting melon seeds at each other!" Rina beamed happily and jumped off of her chair to attach herself to her brother's leg.

Miguel raised a dark brow at her before focusing his eyes back on Celena who just sighed in defeat. "Told you it was fun."

"I guess I owe you big time then." He chuckled and scratched the back of his head, squinting his eyes down at her in thought. "Say, do you still want to ride this insane roller coaster down at the funfair?"

Delicate brows rose in surprise. "You're not offering to accompany me, are you? You absolutely loathe these things."

"My brother's such a sissy." Miguel turned to send his little sister a murderous glare but Sophie just smiled sweetly at him.

"Shut up, brat." He had placed his hands over Rina's ears who was still clinging to his leg. "I'm surprised you're still talking to me after spending the whole afternoon with her. Thanks a lot."

Celena returned his grateful smile and shrugged nonchalantly. "Anytime you want."

"Be careful what you say." He chuckled. "I could actually come back to that and ask you again to keep an eye on the devils. It's quite stressful with dad still being in hospital."

"But he's fine." Rina grinned up at Celena, showing the adorable gap between her front teeth. "The doctors said he would be able to come home next week."

"That's great." Celena stroked the little girl's curly head before locking her eyes with Miguel's brown ones again. "Have you heard anything from your mother lately?"

The young man snorted and placed his big hands over his youngest sister's ears again, whines of protest escaping Rina's lips. "No, she's probably too busy killing time on Jamaica with her boy-toy Chuck."

"Miguel..." Celena warned softly and an incredulous expression crossed his features.

"What! This is so ridiculous!" He gave a humourless laugh, his lips twisting in a sarcastic smile. "She could have bought a bloody sports car to overcome her damn mid-life crisis but no, she runs off with a guy younger than me!"

She sighed and glanced at Sophie who was watching the both of them more attentively than Celena would have liked her to, brown eyes filled with curiosity. "Could you please watch your language?"

Following her gaze, he rolled his eyes and tightened his hold on Rina who was wriggling in his grip, trying to get his hands off of her ears. "Oh, don't worry about her. It's already too late for that one."

"It's not too late for me and his name is not Chuck but Christian nor is he younger than you." Celena and Miguel turned to give Sophie looks of equal incredulity and she puffed her chest proudly. "He's twenty-four and owns a yacht."

Miguel's eyebrows almost disappeared under his scarf. "How do _you_ know!"

Sophie crossed her thin arms in front of her chest and shrugged. "Maybe I was eavesdropping on you and dad talking about mom."

It was when Rina decided that she had been excluded from the conversation for long enough and began screaming. Miguel sighed resignedly and retracted his hands from her ears only to kneel down beside her and mimic her girlish shriek. Rina erupted into helpless giggles when he finally threw her over his shoulder.

"Okay, let's say I give you a call when dad's returned from hospital because I doubt I'll have any free time until next week. That alright with you?" He looked expectantly at Celena and shifted his sister on his other shoulder, inciting another flush of giggles. "And don't even think about paying that sundae."

"Why, you could take us along to the funfair!" Sophie exclaimed and Miguel gave her a wide grin.

"Maybe we don't want to have you around."

"Eww!" Sophie pulled a face and shook her head, causing her brother to chuckle.

Celena had stopped rummaging for her wallet and smiled up at Miguel. "Thank you and yes, it's alright with me."

"Good, because we have to hurry now. Dad's waiting." He attempted to usher Sophie to finish her sundae but ended up inhaling the whole thing in record time himself, Rina still slung over his left shoulder.

"You'll get brain freeze," Celena stated warily but Miguel just waved a hand at her.

"Nah, my brain cells are tough."

"Or already dead." Sophie raised a provoking brow at her brother and he chucked a melon seed with a spoon at her in response.

Celena left with a goodbye and a smile, shaking her head softly at the bickering siblings. She knew Miguel from high school, knew him since they were fourteen when he had spilled his coke all over her. She has had a crush on him since then.

The keys clinked in her backpack when she fished for them and was surprised to find the door locked. Frowning she stepped into the apartment, dumping her backpack by the door that fell shut behind her.

She had expected her brother to be there for he had promised to clean up that day, but silence was the only one roaming the place. "Allen?"

An angry fire sparked in her eyes when she entered the kitchen and found the dishes still waiting in the sink to be washed and the fridge empty. Crossing the apartment, Celena discovered his laundry lying in a pile in front of his room, his documents scattered in the living room and his breakfast sitting on the couch table.

Finding coffee grounds lazily moving on the bottom of his mug, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. One of these days she would kill him and it would be a painfully slow death.

When Celena's lashes fluttered open again a wave of sadness extinguished the anger that had been burning in her eyes and she swallowed hard. It was becoming a habit; she would ask him a favour, he would promise and then he would break the promise. Her opinion didn't matter to him. She would tell him that she didn't approve of him continuing with what had destroyed their family but he would only do so much as nod and return to his research.

A bitter smile twisted her lips when she switched on the TV and went into the kitchen to do the dishes.

She needed half an hour to clean up everything, the fan that was humming quietly beside her ruffling her loose shirt and the closed blinds. They were creating a twilight in the small room and dust was dancing along the rays of light that fell though the slits, voices from the living room faintly audible.

Lifting the last plate out of the dishwater, Celena heard the familiar click of the door. His footsteps were muffled by the carpet but she could feel his presence hover in the doorframe, his eyes boring into her back. Silence.

"Hello, Celena."

Pulling the peg out of the sink, she watched the water disappear in the drain with gurgling noises. She didn't turn around. "Allen."

The blinds rattled when the fan turned again and she heard him walk into the living room, leaving a dozen unanswered questions behind. Water dripped from the tips of her fingers onto the floor before she dried her hands on a towel and followed Allen.

"You promised to clean up today." Leaning against the doorframe, Celena crossed her bare arms in front of her chest and seized her brother with icy eyes.

"I know and I'm sorry." Allen was rummaging through piles of folders, documents slipping out of their protective foils. He didn't even look up. "It was urgent."

Celena clenched her fists. "Where have you been?"

Laughter came from the TV where an afternoon sitcom was running and Allen ran a hand through his long hair. "I had some things to settle."

"Allen, where have you been?" His head snapped up at her words, her voice sharp and commanding and he immediately averted his eyes. More laughter echoed throughout the room.

"I was with Eries Aston."

Disappointment flashed across Celena's features. "She's the one who you were visiting after father died, right?"

He nodded his head lightly, still refusing to look at her, and she inhaled deeply, trying to blink away the pricking feeling at the back of her eyes. "I'm sorry, Celena."

"No, you're not!" Allen winced when her yell bounced off the walls. "How often did I ask you to stop? How often did I _beg_ and you never listened? So, stop saying this bullshit when you don't mean it!"

"Celena, this is important!" His voice was hard, hustling her to understand him.

"Gods, I can't believe you!" She shook her head, pity in her eyes. "This is just what father always said! Can't you see that you're running towards the same abyss he fell off?"

Allen ran a hand through his hair again, nervous, excited, euphoric. "Celena, I'm so close to finding out what father knew and what killed him! Eries told me about her younger sister and that she doesn't know that their older sister was involved in father's death! I'm going to meet her and –"

"I don't want to know!" she suddenly shouted, her eyes closed and her hands fisted at her sides. "I never wanted to know, okay!"

"But Celena –"

"No, Allen!" The words cut through him like knives, their edges ground. "No."

He sighed and relaxed, his shoulders sagging when the tension left his body that had held him upright. "Why are we always arguing about this?"

"Because this journal is a curse." She pointed at the black book Allen was holding, their father's journal. Leon Schezar had written everything in this journal, everything concerning his investigation and research and in the end it had taken his life. But before, he had passed it to his son, so he may destroy himself as well. "This knowledge is. It is like a drug for you and you just can't stop...until it is too late."

A tiny smile tugged carefully at the corners of his lips. "Are you worried?"

Celena snorted and spared him an incredulous look. "No, Allen, I'm not worried. I just don't want to deal with all the stress of your funeral...of course, I'm worried! I'm your sister after all! Grow a bloody brain!"

He looked up at her and smiled. And she hated him for it. How could she be angry at him when he was smiling at her like that? He reminded her so much of their father; one smile and she would forgive him. She sighed. "How was it to see Eries again? I know you were feeling something for her back then."

The smile disappeared and Celena noticed just how tired he was, just like their father. "It was difficult. She..."

He trailed off and Celena watched his mouth opening and his eyes widening that his pupils shrunk to small dots. She knitted her brows at her brother and turned when he shoved past her, his lips moving without a sound passing them.

Allen's broad back was blocking the TV screen when he turned up the volume and a gasp escaped her lips when he finally stepped aside. The excited voice of the reporter talking was the only noise in the room when they were watching in silence, the light of the TV reflected in their eyes.

The pictures and shots flashing across the screen were taken from various points of views but all of them were showing the same unreal image – an angel.

´´

**A/N: Guess what, my dear readers! I'm back! Bwahahahaha! But then again, I was never actually gone :shrugs: Okay, back to what I wanted to say:**

**Thanks so much to Ryuu Angel and Katja::hugs them both like mad: I was probably annoying the hell out of you with my complaining and asking for advice :sweatdrops: Thanks a lot for the support!**

**Thanks to everybody who reviewed! Thanks so much! It makes me happy to see that people are still reading my stories :grins her head off: THANKS!**

**And last but not least: Thanks to Icy Discordia for pointing out something I had almost forgotten! Sometimes, I just overlook things like that coz it's so complex uu Thank you! Hope you recognized what Dilly said! Was all for you :winks:**

**Well, that's all! Thanks for your attention and until we read from each other again!**

**Dariel **


	15. Can you teach me how to fly?

_Short summary: Van found out that he is just an experiment and fled from the lab where he grew up. He found a hiding place at his brother's apartment and Dryden warned him to be careful because he was being observed. Allen is on his trail as well because he found a connection between Van and the "big story" his father was working on before he died in a car accident. Dornkirk had spread lies about Van on the news and Hitomi confronted him but they parted without him answering her question about who he really is. On her way home, she met Dilandau who used her as a way on attempting to make Van return to the lab. The three of them meet on a bridge and in the tumult that comes up with the arrival of reporters (who had been called to the bridge by Dryden after Van had asked him for help) Hitomi fell and Van jumped after her to save her._

* * *

Chapter 15 Can you teach me how to fly?

She opened her eyes. Clouds. Shadows. Birds against a grey sky.

The wind was roaring in her ears, tearing at her hair, her clothes. A scream echoing in the distance. Her own voice. She was falling.

The realization was choking her, adrenaline pumping through her veins, her heart beating painfully strong. She wanted to breathe and found she wasn't able to. She wanted to move and found she couldn't. With a bitter taste, panic rose inside her, closing around her ribcage like an iron vice so strong that she thought it would break.

And suddenly, the sky vanished beneath a shining white that filled her entire vision, blinding her. It was warm, a reassuring whisper in her ear, a soothing caress for her terrified soul. Feathers danced in front of her eyes. Everywhere.

Hitomi woke with a start, the sheets that hugged her body ruffling when she sat up straight. Her green eyes were wide, her chest rising and falling quickly, her sweaty hands fisting in the blanket that covered her.

She closed her eyes and took a deep shuddering breath, trying to calm her wildly beating heart. A dream. It had only been a dream. Wiping with her hand across her wet forehead, she noticed it was shaking.

A dim light was spilling across the bed she was sitting on. A bed she didn't know in a room she had never seen before. She looked up. What had happened?

Where was she? How had she come here? She couldn't remember. The memories were there, she knew it but it was as if she had put them somewhere and couldn't for the life of her remember where it was.

She flung the sheets away and the world started spinning in front of her eyes when she got out of bed, painfully twisting her vision. Taking two steps ahead and resting her forehead against the cool glass of the window, she waited for the nauseating feeling in her stomach and the hammering in her head to subside again.

When the fog of dizziness disappeared from her view she saw that she was looking down into a gorge of glass and steel. A grey sky was reflected in an armada of windows that covered the skyscrapers, sheltering the lives beyond them. At the street below cars were slowly crawling across the asphalt towards their destination, the people bustling along the sidewalks so small that they merged into one moving crowd.

She blinked against the light. It was a diffuse light without any source at all, coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, a light without shadows.

Hitomi was confused and disoriented, unable to tell in which part of the city she was and how she had gotten here. And yet, somehow, she knew it was alright.

Turning slightly, she took a glance around the room. It looked neat and orderly, a closet against the opposite wall, a book shelf against the wall to her right, a bed, a nightstand, not a single sock lying around, everything in its place. The furniture looked simple but expensive, the room clean but impersonal, the dominating colours white and grey too cold to create a comfortable atmosphere.

The floor was cold against her bare feet when she crossed the room. She hesitated before opening the door, staring down at the polished handle. What was she expecting? That it was closed? That someone had kidnapped her and locked her in a room that contained furniture worth more than her parents would ever be able to pay for her in ransom?

A strangled laugh escaped her throat and she shook her head about her own stupidity. When she couldn't hear a single noise coming from beyond the door, she opened it and stepped slowly out into the hallway. It was empty.

She held her breath and pricked her ears, starting when she suddenly heard muffled voices. Hushed voices. Male voices. They were coming from a room two doors down the floor. Her heartbeat quickened when her feet started moving.

Her own startled reflection looked back at her from the smooth surface of a mirror when she passed by a bathroom, the door ajar. She stopped beside a low set of drawers, a pile of envelopes catching her attention. Picking up two of them, she looked for the addressee. It was a Dryden Fassa, Central Avenue 114, Apartment 64. At least now she knew where she was.

Something tickled her foot and looking down, she found a feather being gently rocked against her skin by a soft draft that came from the room to her right. Hitomi lifted her eyes and frowned when she saw the heap of feathers that covered the place in front of the huge windows. It looked as if someone had torn apart an entire bedding in a fit of rage.

"I know that, Dryden!"

Hitomi's heart skipped a beat and she dropped the letters she had been leafing through before when a loud voice broke into her thoughts. A familiar voice. Van's voice.

_A bridge. An albino. Van. _

She gasped. Images flashed across her vision, faces, feelings, but she couldn't grasp them. They were blurred and slipped through her fingers when she tried to remember. And it was frustrating for she knew that she would be able to understand her situation when she remembered what happened.

After taking the last steps to the door, she glanced into the room that was neat just like the other parts of the apartment she had already seen. Van was talking to a man who had his back to her, his brows knitted. He was speaking fast, his voice low and angry. There were feathers lying on the ground around him.

"You have to understand me! This is not about you, so stop telling me what to do! I did not ask for your help so you could --" Van abruptly stopped when he spotted Hitomi standing in the doorframe and the anger disappeared from his features, making room for something else, something that looked like panic. His eyes widened and his posture turned rigid, a tangible tension taking hold of him.

Dryden turned around and a wide smile turned up the corners of his lips. "Ah, good morning, Miss Kanzaki." She instinctively took a step back when he took a step ahead.

Amusement flashed in his eyes and he slapped his hand against his forehead. "But I forget my manners. I'm Dryden Fassa and I welcome you in my humble apartment."

She did not know this man. So, what was she doing in his apartment? She glanced questioningly at Van, his features stony. "What is going on?"

Dryden's face visibly darkened. "A lot, Miss Kanzaki. Unfortunately, I don't have time to explain it to you now but Van can do it. And he will explain." He cast a meaningful glance at the young man over the rim of his glasses. "I have to leave. I've got places to be and people to see. I see the two of you later."

With a light bow, Dryden left the room and his footsteps faded down the hallway. She stared at Van. Her head was pulsing with pain and images kept flashing in front of her eyes, images so unreal she was unable to even put them in words.

A slight ruffling of her clothes stirred the silence when she shifted. "Van, what happened? I must have passed out."

"You did." His response was court, his voice cold. She frowned.

"Why?"

Something flashed in his eyes and he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "You cannot remember?"

"I remember something but it doesn't make sense," Hitomi mumbled and rubbed her forehead. Why wasn't he simply telling her?

Van was silent, staring at the floor. They could hear Dryden in the hallway. "You went to meet someone on a bridge. We met there." He hesitated. "You stumbled and fell."

Her eyes never left his rigid form. "I thought it was a dream."

"It was not." She caught his gaze and felt unsure, cold, wary. Van unfolded his arms and his hands involuntarily fisted at his sides, his lips pressed to a thin line. Suddenly, he turned around and her eyes widened at the vertical gashes in his shirt, the events of the day coming barrelling back at her like a punch to the stomach.

The bridge. The yelling. The river. She remembered the helicopter, the fall, the wings. She doubled over.

"What...?" she choked, pressing a hand to her mouth.

"You asked me who I am, Hitomi." He had turned slightly, his side facing her, eyes boring into her ones. It was cold. "Twenty years ago my parents agreed to an artificial insemination. They didn't know they were part of an experiment. I'm the result. I grew up in a lab hidden beneath this city without knowing the truth about what I am. Almost one month ago, I found out that I was told lies and ran away."

She stared at him, her breathing ragged.

"They want me to return," he continued but she could hardly understand him, her own voice screaming inside her head. "They used you to get me to come back."

Her hands were shaking and he noticed it. Some of the tension left his body. "Hitomi, say something." His voice was quiet and so different from the detached tone he had just used. Vulnerable. "Please."

But she could not give him what he asked of her, even if it was just a word. She could not believe. He had told her what she had wanted to know but the words made no sense.

The room suddenly seemed too small and the oxygen too less for them to breathe properly. The silence was deafening. He was looking at her, waiting for her to speak. She was looking through him, waiting to wake up.

Nothing happened and with a choked sob, Hitomi turned around and ran from the room. Down the hallway, a door fell shut.

* * *

A traffic light switched to red and Dryden Fassa made his black Mercedes stop at the pedestrian crossing, people meandering past one another across the street. Closing his eyes, he leaned his head against the back rest.

He was son of the boss of a company whose fingers reached all across the globe. He was intelligent, powerful, rich. He was listed as one of the world's most wanted bachelors. But as today had proved again, all this was as useful as an electric tin opener at the bottom of the sea when it came to dealing with crying women.

Dryden had hoped Hitomi would be able to handle it but obviously it had been too much for her. When he had been about to leave his apartment she had locked herself in the bathroom and for half an hour he had tried to get her to come out. Without success.

He had told her he would be back soon and would explain everything. He had told Van to leave her alone for now but to not let her out of the apartment. He had told himself not to do anything stupid. He hoped everybody would listen to him.

The impatient noise of a horn told him the traffic light had switched to green again and he slowly continued his way to his father's company. It was a workday after all.

The unsuspicious building in a district of the city that was mostly occupied by banks and insurance companies was actually only a branch of the Fassa Trading Company, the headquarters half a circumference of the earth away. Recent developments concerning his father's most expensive investment, however, kept them in the city.

A violent curse left Dryden's lips when he stepped through the huge glass doors and found his secretary trying to flirt with the long-legged bombshell behind the reception counter. The young man usually never left his workplace and his being down here could only mean that Dryden's father had ordered him to do so.

With a resigned sigh, Dryden nodded at his assistant who had just spotted him. He had wanted to settle some things before dealing with his father but that would have to wait. "Mr. Fassa!"

A rustle of documents and the young man was at his side, wheezing although he had only jogged across the room; it was probably from excitement.

"Mr. Fassa! Thank God, you're finally here! Your father wants to see you. He's already waiting for three hours and you know how he hates waiting." He had something of a rodent appearance. His ears were too big and his lower jaw too small for his too long face, his noise too pointed. To almost complete the image, he even revealed two very long front teeth every time he opened his mouth. The only thing missing were the whiskers.

Stanley Carrington was working for the only Fassa offspring for two years now and Dryden actually liked him, especially when he was telling him about his father going ballistic. While they were walking to the elevator Dryden was watching in slight amazement when Stanley ranted on without even taking a breath. "And the telephone just doesn't stop ringing! You got three calls from –-"

"Did my father say why he wanted to see me?" Dryden interrupted him and felt every cell of his body crave for coffee when the familiar scent hit his nostrils. The whole elevator cabin smelled as if someone had cooked coffee for an entire army.

"No, he did not. He just made me understand that it was really, really urgent." Stan snipped a fly off of his suit and watched it buzz towards the ceiling with a thoroughly annoyed expression on his features. "He made a face as if he just lost a truckload of money. And I don't mean coins."

Dryden's lips quirked at the corners when he stared at his reflection in the polished door of the elevator. He knew perfectly well why his father was about to start a rampage and to some hardly mentionable amount it was thanks to Dryden.

"Okay, I'll go see him right now."

The elevator stopped and they both exited. The hallway they entered was clean, empty and silent. "You'll go to my office and while waiting for me, you'll cancel as many engagements I have for this week as possible."

"But --"

Dryden raised his hand in a gesture that his secretary knew so well he could mutter Dryden's next words under his breath. "No questions. Just do it."

With a curt nod, Stan turned and headed down the hallway, his footsteps muffled by the carpet. Dryden sighed and rubbed his forehead. He could feel the harbingers of an upcoming headache approach like an elephant breaking through the undergrowth.

But still, this day was getting better and better by the minute, something he hadn't expected when getting up and stepping into a puddle of cat urine first thing in the morning. The cat hated him with a passion and he didn't know why. It had been a present for Millerna but she had left him before he had been able to give it to her. Now he was stuck with the vindictive pet.

Van's call had been the ultimate solution to his every problem concerning his father's business and the ways to put a spoke in his wheel. It was his chance to get back at his father.

The faint clicking that only shoes with microscopic heels could produce reached his ear. He truly admired women for being able to ignore the pains of walking in this kind of torture device without their features turning grotesque and at the same time radiating a grace like Venus born from the sea.

He stopped when, by looking up, he found Millerna gliding his way, carrying her female power in front of her like a sword, the polished blade sparkling like the sun and able to cut through every male being as if they were butter. And she would do it if she felt like it – even if it was just for the fun of it.

"Hello, Millerna."

She stopped as abruptly as if she just ran into a brick-wall by hearing his voice. Her eyes sparked with anger when she lifted her nose out of the documents to look at him; he could almost feel it prickle on his skin. It made him marvel inwardly that he still had this effect on her. If she just weren't so goddamn stubborn.

"What are you doing here?" He spoke slowly, politely, his smile like sugar and cream. He knew it made her furious and he actually didn't want to do it, didn't want to aggravate her, didn't want to poke and prod at the places where her armour was defective but she left him no choice.

Millerna's grip around the documents tightened and she pressed them against her expensive silken blouse. Her voice was as cold as ice that was a century old. "None of your business."

Dryden pushed his glasses up his nose and took a few steps in her direction, his calm smile never leaving his face. Who was he to spare her? She deliberately made his life a living hell and he was gentleman enough to return the favour. Tit for tat.

"Actually, yes, this is my business. At least, I own enough shares to ask you whatever I please concerning this little project of yours and it doesn't matter if you do answer or not because I will get to know anyway."

He was now standing directly in front of her, looking into her angry eyes. The hallway was empty except for the two of them and their mutual frustration towards the other one.

A sheet of paper was crumpled between Millerna's fingers. She didn't like it when he was right. And he was always right. "I came to inform your father about the current situation," she hissed through gritted teeth.

"I think today's news magazines kept him updated." He noticed that her fists clenched and he wasn't able to completely suppress a satisfied smile. "It's spinning out of control, isn't it?"

She lifted her eyes, jutting out her chin and he knew it cost her every ounce of willpower to look at him and bear his gloating expression without giving in to the urge to break every single bone in his body. In another time and place, she would have made a perfect princess. Always so proud and condescending, even when she was wrong. "Nothing is spinning out of control."

"Do you know your mistake?" Dryden's words were quiet and well-chosen for he knew that yelling and rashness wouldn't get him anywhere. Not with Millerna. She had mastered the art of explosions of temper and he simply could not beat her at that. "You did not consider your experiment could discover that he's got a free will. You did not consider he would use it."

Something flickered across her features and for a brief moment he thought it was hurt. Hurt because he did not agree? Disappointment because he did not see what she could see? "This is bullshit and you know it. We never forced him to anything. He was allowed to say no whenever he wanted to."

"You did not allow him to leave the lab and this is what broke your neck. Keep a bird inside your house and he will eat out of your hand and do tricks and sit on your shoulder. Open the window and he will fly away without looking back. And he will never return."

He calmly returned her defiant glare. "You brainwashed him into taking everything you told him at face value. What did you teach him? That the world is bad? That human beings outside the lab are evil creatures who'd hurt him and that he's safe inside the lab?"

She gritted her teeth and for the first time, she broke the eye contact. "He cannot survive on his own."

"Seems like he can after all."

Delicate brows knitted and when she directed her lilac-coloured orbs back on him, he was hit by a blow of utter wrath. "Mistakes have been made when altering his DNA. He had not been created to mingle with the people. It was a test to see what can be accomplished with the help of genetic engineering."

She was still beautiful. Just like he remembered her. But only from the outside. What he had grown to love had been marred and stained and it hurt to see it; like an old painting, yellowed and dirty. He wanted to wash it off. Wash off the lies and false assumptions until her skin was red.

"Had not been created?" He chuckled humourlessly and the sound seemed to reverberate hollowly in his own ears. "Who do you people think you are? God?"

Dryden silenced her with a gruff gesture of his hand when he saw that she was about to protest. He was not done yet and for once she would let him finish. "Apart from the fact that this project is absolutely illegal, it is morally and ethically wrong. And still you praise it like it's the solution to end starvation!"

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained!" Her voice was trembling with a fierce passion and the boundless conviction that she was in the right. Determination and belief, it was all burning in her eyes. She was like a lioness protecting her young, willing to tear apart everybody who dared coming near her.

The seconds passed by noiselessly when Dryden tried to comprehend her words. He couldn't understand her. He didn't want to. "Shit, listen to yourself, Millerna! This is life we're talking about!_ Life_! The most valuable thing on this damn planet! It's a gift and not something to juggle with!" Why wouldn't she understand?

Millerna opened her mouth but nothing came out of it, nothing seemed able to break the meaningful silence he had created, his words too powerful. And she was slightly confused because something about him had changed; something had changed for he had come to a conclusion that hurt him to admit.

"It seems to me that you've forgotten what counts. I thought you were one of the brightest beings walking these grounds but I could have been wrong. It seems as if you have been brainwashed as well, Millerna." He smiled but it was sad.

Her features were stony and her hands were shaking. He knew he had done something inexcusable; he had called her into question. He questioned her beliefs, her motives. She would never forgive him. "How dare you say something like that! You've got no right to judge and condemn the project! _You_ know nothing about it but _I_ put my life into it!"

"I know you're proud but for once, put it down and admit that you made a mistake." Dryden looked directly at her, not even attempting to dodge the daggers she was flat out glaring at him. "What would you say if he was your son? If you had been pregnant, would you have offered your child?"

Millerna hesitated. "This is different."

Dryden wanted to laugh but he knew he would choke on it. "Is it? Van is a son and a brother just as you are a daughter and a sister. Where is the difference?"

The politeness was now completely gone from his voice, his eyes almost resembling the coldness that had been in her ones before. "Don't pretend this doesn't concern you. You're not better than me. You don't have more rights than Van. I never thought it would be possible but I'm disappointed in you."

She looked as if she had been slapped, his words leaving a red, stinging imprint in her mind.

"Do me the favour and ask yourself these questions: Why are you worried about Van? For the sake of the project or for his sake? And how much do you value a human life?"

Dryden didn't wait for an answer. This was not between the two of them anymore, this was solely about Millerna. He hated Dornkirk for playing with her mind. Dryden had watched her getting wrapped around the old man's finger for, although she was brilliant, she was still naïve and he hadn't been able to do anything about it. She needed to wake up and if he was to dump the bucket of cold water on her, so be it.

Millerna had averted her eyes, gripping her documents tightly when Dryden passed her by. He felt guilty for raising his voice against her and hurting her but it had to be done. He needed to admit to himself that he did not agree with her opinion and he needed to tell her just that.

Her lilac scent followed him all the way to his father's office like a sweet torture, the punishment for what he did to her. She was so close and yet he could not reach her. She was only a reflection, an image conjured by his thirsting mind, something that vanished the closer he seemed to come no matter how hard he tried.

His father was facing the window when Dryden entered without knocking, his hands linked behind his tiredly hunched up back. Meiden Fassa didn't even turn around. "Ah, you had the kindness to come after all. Where have you been?"

Dryden's eyes narrowed slightly. The patronizing tone, the slight accusation, Dryden didn't think his father was doing it intentionally but he always managed to make him feel like a twelve year old. "I had some things to settle."

Everything looked in place in the office; documents were piled neatly on a massive desk, pens and biros resting in their respective place, books and files put away in huge shelves and even his father seemed as if he was supposed to stand in front of the window, looking out at the city. "Dr. Aston brought a new file concerning the project. Read it, you can at least understand what it means."

"As you wish, father."

Meiden Fassa sighed and his shoulders sagged even more. "I don't understand you, Dryden. You should be excited about all this. You studied Biology as well, it was your life."

A shadow slipped silently and unnoticed across Dryden's face and he was surprised to find his fist clenched tightly. He flexed his hand, annoyed that this topic still got to him. "Yes, it _was_. We've had this conversation more times than I would have liked to. You know the reasons why I dropped out of college. Let's not repeat it all over again."

"As you wish, son," his father mocked and turned around before Dryden had a chance to angrily narrow his eyes. His age and constant worry about money had carved deep wrinkles into Meiden Fassa's face, the corners of his lips pulled down so much that they looked as if they weren't capable of smiling anymore. Maybe they never had at all. "I guess you heard what happened for you have to be a mole not to notice what is going on."

Why was he so calm about all this? Dryden was sure his father was going to lose a lot of money, not to mention what a blow to the company's reputation it would be if it came all out.

"I watched the news." It wasn't a lie. It just wasn't the entire truth. And deep down, hidden beneath the hurt, a small part of him was shocked that he did not feel guilty for attempting to ruin his father's business, did not feel guilty for abusing his trust.

His father broke his stoic posture by reaching out a hand to drum his fingers on the leathern backrest of his chair. "It's changing quite a lot. Everything can happen now. Isaac always told me that he had everything under control but right now, it doesn't exactly seem so. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking that you told me in the beginning that it wouldn't work. You did not agree with my decision and now you think that I get what I deserve, don't you?"

Dryden had lost two people he cared for to the project, first his father and then Millerna. He had been beyond angry when he got to know what his father had engaged in and he was devastated when he got to know Millerna was about to do the same. He had difficulty swallowing the words that had been fermenting inside him for so long, leaving a bitter taste on his tongue whenever the thought of them crossed his mind. Old words. Strong words. "It doesn't matter what I think. I didn't come to argue with you."

Both men were breathing accusation and reproach. There were too many words they had not voiced at the right time, both of the opinion that it wouldn't be of any use at all, both thinking it wouldn't bring much of a change, and yet their reasons couldn't be more different. Now it was too late because the words had grown into something they wouldn't be able to control when set free.

"No, you never do." Meiden turned to the window again and Dryden was left glaring at his back. He was trying so hard not to become like his father that he didn't notice that they were slowly growing more and more alike. "I don't know what I'm going to do now but you'll be informed when I come up with a decision. That's all. You can go now. Don't forget to read the file. It will explain a lot."

They had said enough, or not enough, depending on the point of view. And without another unnecessary word more, Dryden took the file on top of the pile of documents on his father's desk and left. He didn't say goodbye.

* * *

She was stressed. She was frustrated. She was angry. In this state, Millerna Aston was capable of everything, and she knew it.

One month ago, everything had been perfect and if someone would have told her what was going to happen, she would have laughed in their face. But it wasn't one month ago anymore. It was now. And now, nothing was plain sailing anymore.

Van had run away and was endangering the entire project with his foolishly rash actions. They hadn't been able to get a grip on him and to top it all, the whole world now knew of his existence. Terrific. Everything she had never wanted to happen all wrapped up in a mere month with a nice ribbon and cherries on top.

And in the background there was the steady tick tack of the countdown, reminding her that they were running out of time. Dornkirk knew it and he wasn't doing anything about it. Somewhere along the way she had missed something.

Of course, as if this wasn't enough already, there was still Dryden, never too modest to add to her growing headache. She didn't know how the man was able to annoy her to the point where she was about to lose her sanity. His constant smiling and sauntering around her aggravated the oldest form of rage she harboured within herself.

But still, beneath this mask of annoyance it was hurting her to see him, showing her every day what she could have had, what she had chosen not to have. His smiles and words still affected her and she wanted to hate him all the more for it but found that she couldn't. And hated herself for it.

What he had said to her earlier had stung so badly that she still felt the pain. He had criticised her, her motives, her view on life. He had showed her that he did not trust her anymore, that he did not believe in her anymore. It shouldn't matter to her, shouldn't mean anything and yet it did, more than she was willing to admit. She had thought three years would be fairly enough. She had been wrong. His words hurt and she still couldn't hate him.

There, her life in a nutshell. Could someone, please, step on it?

Millerna sank back in her chair and tapped a pen feverishly against the armrest. She had locked the door to her office as a precaution, knowing she would simply snap if someone came to seek her out now. Even if it was just the secretary asking for a bloody stapler.

His words had been reverberating inside her head for the entire time. His voice was there in her mind, torturing her, hammering against the walls of her conviction. She couldn't ignore it anymore. And she started to listen.

Could he be right? Had she lost her focus? Had she forgotten what she valued? Had she lost her respect towards life?

No. No. No.

The project was what she believed in. Dornkirk was who she believed in. Her values and outlook on life might have changed while working on the project, they had to, but she understood why it was necessary. And she agreed.

Running a hand through her curls, she cast a glance over the piles of paper work that were gathering on her desk. There were tests to evaluate, statistics to compile, reports to control and so on but right now, she couldn't concentrate on that. She was busy trying to ignore Dryden's voice that was repeating in her head everything he had said this morning. But she didn't want to listen. She wanted to do her freaking paper work.

Millerna snorted and looked around her office, searching for something to distract her. Her sheet almanac still said that it was April. The only plant in the room looked as if it was silently screaming his little chlorophyll heart out for a drop of water. The screensaver of her computer was an annoying pattern she had wanted to get rid of for ages. The red lamp of her answering machine was blinking.

She frowned. Only a handful of people knew the direct number for her office. Intrigued, Millerna reached out a hand and pressed her perfectly manicured index finger onto the play button.

A mechanic voice told her that she had received the recorded call half an hour ago and her eyes widened when after the click she heard her sister talking in that familiar, calm way, "Hey, Millerna, this is Eries. I'm having Indian curry chicken for dinner and I'd hoped you would come by. It's your favourite and I know you're too lazy to cook it yourself. I miss you, and Chid does, too." A pause, then, quietly, "I love you." A click and the mechanic voice announced that there were no more recorded messages.

Millerna stared at her telephone. Motionless and unaffected from the outside, a nervous mess of jumbled thoughts on the inside.

Eries. She hadn't seen her sister in a long time. They weren't exactly on speaking terms at the moment. They never were. They hadn't argued; she wasn't able to argue with Eries. They just hadn't been able to agree on a few things. Millerna's work, the circumstances of Marlene's death, the father of Eries' son and the fact that Millerna didn't know who it was, just to name a few of them.

It was always the same. Every time they had met it had ended with Eries trying to convince Millerna to consider that she might be wrong and with Millerna leaving her, yelling and slamming the door in a fit of rage. Last time had been no difference.

And that is why she couldn't explain to herself why she was standing at Eries' front door five hours later, nervous and confused. She didn't conceive the hope that there wouldn't be any friction.

Millerna glanced at her surroundings which fit her sister just perfectly; a perfect little house in a perfect little neighbourhood. Everything was clean and friendly, and even the sidewalk looked as if it was about to thank her for walking on it. She bet somewhere in this neighbourhood, a perfect little housewife was just crossing her perfectly cut lawn to visit the family next door to invite them for a slice of self-baked cheese cake.

That wasn't the place to live for Millerna. Not in this life-time. She needed a headache and a coffee in the morning to wake up. She needed her small, disorderly and thoroughly neglected apartment to feel contented when coming home. She needed unfriendly neighbours so she could behave unfriendly herself. And if she didn't get, at least, one reason a day to have a proper fit of rage she would never be happy.

But her sister was completely different. Eries needed harmony; she always had. And because of their differences the two of them never got along. At least, they didn't get along for longer than a dinner. And somehow she knew that Marlene was the similarity they were lacking. Marlene would have made them understand each other. But Marlene wasn't there. And hypothesis wouldn't get her anywhere.

Upon her ringing the doorbell there were a brief silence, then a crash, a yell and the noise of small feet stomping hurriedly across the floor. She couldn't help but return the infectious smile with which Chid, her nephew, greeted her, stretching from one ear to the other. The boy was five years old and looked like a renaissance angel complete with short golden locks, big, blue eyes and creamy skin. She knew he was anything but.

"Aunt Millerna!" he announced happily and hugged her around the waist. Something inside her twisted upon her wondering when it had been the last time someone had been waiting for her in her apartment, when it had been the last time that she actually hadn't been alone in her apartment.

She ran a hand through his soft curls. "Hey, Chid, my favourite nephew."

"I'm your only nephew, aunt Millerna," he dryly mumbled into her jacket and she bit down a grin when he gave her an equally dry look. She ruffled his hair.

"How is your mom?"

"I'm fine." Eries' face appeared in her vision. Tall, calm, beautiful. Her smile was warm and loving and Millerna noticed she had missed it. "Come in."

Chid let go of her and beamed at his mother. "Chid, would you, please, go ahead into the kitchen?"

Saluting, Chid spun around and hoppled to a door at the other side of the room, out of her sight. He left a silence in his wake and out of the corners of her eyes Millerna noticed Eries watching her, hands clasped in front of her. They were both waiting for a reaction, however, it was only Millerna who actually needed one.

"Millerna, I'm glad you came." Eries' voice was so soft that Millerna almost didn't understand it. There was a moment of hesitation before her sister finally relaxed and opened her arms. Millerna gladly accepted the hug. "How are you?"

She grunted against Eries' shoulder. "Stressed. Frustrated. Just the usual, nothing I'm not able to handle. It can always be worse."

She pulled away and smiled weakly, allowing Eries to lead her to where Chid had disappeared. The house smelled of lilies and books and warmth, smelled of Eries, smelled of their mother.

Millerna felt the tenseness in Eries' usually relaxed body as if it was her own. Her sister was usually calm and quiet and when she was wringing her hands nervously then even Millerna grew suspicious. "What is it?"

Her hands stilled, a tiny smile tugging guiltily at the corners of her lips. "I invited you out of selfish reasons."

Millerna blinked. Her sister was the most unselfish person she knew. "I want you to do me a favour."

There wasn't enough time to comprehend the words, not enough time to react. They had already entered the kitchen and she faced a young man who looked oddly familiar. She frowned.

The silence that immediately engulfed them in the small room told her that they had not met today by pure chance, told her that her life was probably going to be even more complicated than it already was. This was not going to be a nice little family get together, she could read it on everybody's face. They all knew something she did not know. Yet.

The door of the refrigerator fell shut and Chid stepped beside the stranger, holding a bottle of water in both hands. Millerna inhaled sharply and her eyes widened. Impossible. Same shining, blonde hair. Same bright, blue eyes. Same pale skin. Same way of slightly tilting the head in curiosity. This couldn't be a coincidence. The resemblance between the two of them was so striking that they could have been brothers – or father and son.

Eries nervousness suddenly made sense.

"Eries?" Millerna breathed and stared at the image in front of her in utter shock, not able to tear her gaze away. "Don't tell me this..."

"Millerna, meet Allen Schezar, Chid's father." Questions answered. New questions arisen. She had wanted to know, hadn't she? And now that she knew she didn't want to know anymore, did she? "You've met him once, six years ago. He's a journalist and works for –"

"What?" She snapped out of her stupor, eyes ablaze. Eries was right. She knew him. Six years ago, he had been visiting them, asking questions about Marlene's death, breaking Eries' heart. "He does know, doesn't he? Did you sell my story or something? Is he here to get some first hand information out of me?"

Her sister's smile was sad. "No, he is here to tell you something. I never asked you for anything, Millerna. I'll do so now and I beg you to do me that favour. Sit down and listen to him. Listen to everything he's going to tell you."

Millerna was breathing heavily, unable to move. Just like last time; she was yelling and Eries was calmly trying to reason with her. Her patience seemed boundless.

This time, there was one difference, though. Allen. His eyes were intense when he looked at her, handing her a black, leather-bound book. Millerna hesitated.

She had the distinct feeling that she would step on her nutshell herself.

* * *

Noiselessly, the digital clock on the counter in the kitchen switched to 2:45 AM. A cupboard rattled quietly and Hitomi grinned in satisfaction when she finally found the sugar, pouring a generous amount of it over a bowl that was filled to the brim with noodles.

She stirred her food with a fork and chuckled when she found Dryden's cat, Merlin, sitting at her feet, looking expectantly up at her with vibrant amber eyes, head slightly tilted to the side. "All mine," she told him and proceeded to sit down at the table.

Apart from the quiet humming of the fridge and Merlin's sonorous purring it was completely silent. The apartment was fast asleep. Beyond the window the sleepless lights of the city were reflected in the façade of the building across the street, twinkling at her.

She hadn't been able to sleep. Not at all. There were too many things on her mind that had her tossing and turning in bed before finally getting up, frustrated with herself. She was still unable to explain what happened. Too incredible to be real but not impossible enough to be a dream. Hitomi was between belief and doubt, in a situation where she knew what was right but she was afraid to admit it.

Earlier, when the events of the day and their unbelievable extent had caught up with her, she had spent hours in the bathroom, crying and vomiting until she was too tired to rebel against a truth that was too surreal to be accepted. Dryden had talked to her, trying to explain. Failing. She had listened, she had nodded, she had not been able to comprehend it.

And she hadn't known why. She couldn't understand why her mind refused to accept something that had seemed so terrifyingly logical when Dryden had explained it. An immoral experiment, impossible in her eyes and yet she had seen the result, had seen him, had seen the wings.

Genetic engineering. They had crossed a mule and a horse. They could grow human ears on a mouse's back. So, what was so unbelievable about what they did with Van?

His ears twitching, Merlin suddenly turned his head and Hitomi instinctively looked up, almost choking on a sweet noodle when she found Van standing in the doorframe. Silent. Attentive. Watching her. "Hey."

"Hey."

He was only wearing a pair of pajama pants that was hanging loosely around his hips, his arms crossed in front of his bare chest. He didn't move and for a moment Hitomi just stared at his unsure features, wondering what he was waiting for.

She hadn't spoken to him since she had walked out on him that afternoon. She hadn't even seen him. She had planned to avoid him but it hadn't been necessary for he had done it for her. She had wanted to avoid him out of fear. But why should he be afraid of her?

Maybe because of the same reason why he was remaining standing in the doorframe. Maybe because of her reaction.

He seemed apprehensive and she smiled, luring him out of his hiding spot. "Cannot sleep either?"

The corners of his lips twitched faintly upwards and he stepped into the kitchen as if he had been waiting for permission, the brief silence heavy with two hands full of unspoken questions. "No, it's too bloody hot. Is it usually this hot?" He sounded awake but there was a general tiredness about him that wasn't only because of the lack of sleep.

Hitomi put down her fork and shrugged, watching as Merlin accompanied Van to the fridge. "The air conditioning is running at full power."

"Doesn't feel like it." A bright light illuminated his silhouette when Van opened the door and downed a bottle of water he found in there. Hitomi caught herself staring at his back, searching for an evidence, searching for something she could see and touch, something real to prove to her mind that everything was true.

When he closed the door and turned, she started. "What are you doing?" His voice seemed unnaturally loud in the silence he had created and which was following him like a shadow.

Her cheeks flushing, she watched him taking a seat across the table and shoved her plate in the middle. "Eating noodles with sugar. They're very delicious. Want some?"

Van set down his bottle of water and cocked a dark brow at her and then at the noodles but took a hesitant bite nevertheless. "Oh, they're good."

"Told you so." Hitomi smiled and relaxed a little, feeling the tension that had gripped her the moment she had spotted him slowly seep out of her body. "But be careful, you're going to be addicted to them pretty fast."

His mouth quirked in a grin and she felt her insides lurch. Averting her eyes, Hitomi quietly ate as well and held her fork tightly to stop her hand from shaking, her knuckles turning white. She wanted to know so many things and didn't know where to start, didn't know if he allowed asking.

The words were pressing against the back of her teeth, urging her to speak up. She cleared her throat nervously. "No wounds?"

Van's hand stilled halfway to the plate and his shoulders stiffened, telling her that he knew what she was talking about. Hitomi held her breath without noticing, not knowing what to expect. For all she knew he could be offended by her curiosity, her prying, just like he had been all those times she had accidentally brushed this topic. "No, I heal quite fast. The last remains are gone after two hours at the latest."

She furrowed her brows. "You cut yourself at a shard, the first time we met." Their eyes met and a warm feeling spread out inside her, making her fingertips tingle. She thought she saw the shadow of a smile playing about the corners of his lips. "Remember?"

"I do. It was my first day outside the lab."

Hitomi's eyebrows rose all the way up to her hairline and surprise and disbelief melted on her features to something she couldn't understand herself. "What?"

Something unreadable crossed his eyes, something she had seen before. "I said it was my first day --"

Her honey-coloured tresses swayed when she shook her head vehemently, interrupting him. "No, I understood you just fine. It's just that..." And suddenly everything fell in place. His curiosity. His childish wonderment. The way he had looked at the most simple and natural things, making it seem as if he saw it all for the first time. He had seen it all for the first time.

"It's so hard to imagine."

_Could _she imagine what it would be like? Could she imagine what it would be like to see the sky for the first time? The sun? To smell trees and to see all those people on the street for the first time? She couldn't even find the words to describe it. She couldn't even think of all the things he saw for the first time that day.

"For you, maybe." Defiance laced his words and made them bitter. The something that had flickered in his eyes before now grew stronger and made him slowly draw up some of the walls he had let down. Her words made his anger resurface, her words demanded an answer that would be like a justification, a justification for what he was, a justification for his life. And he didn't want it, didn't need it. He knew who he was.

Van blinked.

He knew who he was. He had always known it and nobody could take it away from him, nothing would change it.

Hitomi noticed that her choice of words had been wrong. Van was withdrawing, retreating against the backrest of his chair, crossing his arms in front of his chest. She quickly swallowed the hundreds of questions that threatened to spill all at the same time, watching him carefully. She knew this situation, knew his reaction.

The silence seemed worse than everything she could possibly say and she decided to direct the topic back to where it had slipped from her grasp. "You cut yourself and still had a bandage two days later."

Van hesitated, trying to control his feelings. "Vargas –-" He stopped abruptly as if the words had burned his lips and reached for one of the wine glasses that had been placed upside down on the table. The soft splashing of water was the only noise. "I was told I should put it on so not to raise any suspicion. The cut had already healed that evening."

His features were void of any emotion; as was his voice. It wasn't even cold or distant, just empty.

Hitomi could feel that he wasn't comfortable but so far he hadn't run away and she needed to ask him. She knew she was expecting a lot but so was he. He expected her to believe it, to accept it, to understand it but it was hard. It was harder than she would have ever thought. If someone had told her about it, she would have laughed it off, saying she would be able to handle it easily. She couldn't. But she was trying to and she hoped talking about it would make it more believable, more real. "How does it work?"

He glanced at her and some of the tension let go of his shoulders when he saw that his anger was directed at the wrong person. Her green eyes were wide, her fingers intertwined tightly with each other.

Van exhaled the rest of his anger and gave a faint shrug. Unsure. Uncomfortable. Not used to explaining it. "I have no idea. It just does."

"How is it?"

Dipping his index finger into the water, he began to slowly circle the rim of the glass with it. He looked up, his expression wary. "How is what?"

"Flying. I...I remember you." She smiled and averted her eyes, a faint blush tinting her cheeks. The glass started to sing beneath Van's fingertip and the noise was as breakable as the glass itself. "I mean, I saw you falling and then, the wings breaking from your back. I want to be able to fly as well. It must be great."

A brief silence. A cool draft from the hallway. Goosebumps on her skin. "Yeah, it is and I hate myself every time I enjoy flying."

The singing stopped.

"I'm so goddamn hypocritical. I despise the people I once trusted for what they did to me and at the same I enjoy the result of it all."

It was boiling inside him, hot and fierce. He couldn't stop it, couldn't control the anger that he felt rapidly growing into rage. It was a rage that made his hand close tightly around the glass, leashing out at his words and turning them harsh. And he hated himself even more for letting it get to him so much.

Hitomi couldn't tell what was going on inside him, she couldn't even guess where his thoughts strayed. His troubled eyes only vaguely told about the things he had seen, the things he had experienced. It was far from what she could imagine. But she wanted to. She wanted to know. She wanted to understand. Her head was buzzing with so many questions that she felt as if she was trying to catch leaves that were raining from the sky, grasping three ones while dozens of other leaves were sailing around her to the ground, forgotten. And she knew he wouldn't answer them. Not today.

A faint smile brushed the corners of her mouth. "I'm sorry."

Van loosened his grip around the glass and raised a brow, eyeing her questioningly. "What for?"

"I'm sorry for running away earlier." An emotion flickered across his features but he averted his eyes too fast for her to read it, causing a stab of guilt in her stomach.

She was a coward. What had scared her so much? "I couldn't believe it. I thought I was turning completely crazy. Do you know that feeling when you cannot tell between what is real and what is not? When you don't know what to believe?"

"I know what you mean and I understand you." His voice was quiet but firm, accepting what she said and forgiving her. However, he still refused to meet her eyes.

"I didn't want to be weak. I wanted to understand. And it made me angry that I couldn't." Why did she want to understand? Because she believed? Because she cared?

There was a silence when he rolled the words over his tongue, hesitantly, the taste unfamiliar. "It's odd to hear that. Dryden told me that you maybe wouldn't take it so well. I couldn't imagine it for I grew up with people around me who understood. I was told people who didn't know about me wouldn't understand but...What?" He had trailed off when looking up and finding her watching him, not sure what to make of the look on her face. Shock? Pity? Disgust? He didn't like any of it.

Hitomi noticed his troubled expression when he caught her staring. It was when she noticed that he was just like her, with the same fear of rejection, the same feeling of indecision, not knowing what to do or expect. He was human. A living, breathing human being, maybe more human than most people she knew. More human than she was.

She wasn't afraid of him or of what he was but of the things he knew, the things he had seen, the things she refused to believe. She was afraid because he would change things as she knew them.

She shook her head softly, again, trying to clear her thoughts, trying to understand herself. "Why me? Why did you return to me?"

"With you it felt different. Now I know I felt normal." His voice was quiet as if he wasn't sure if these were the right words. Did he even know what normal was?

"You used me." Hitomi had waited two heartbeats before she spoke, tasting the silence. She had not wanted to say those words. She did not want to hear his reply.

Van's eyes found her ones. "In a way, yes."

It hurt. It hurt because it could have been anybody else making him feel like this. It was just because she had probably been the first person he had come in contact with outside the lab. It could have been anybody else. "And now?"

He was still looking at her. "Now, I care."

It was incredible how he could make her feel all these completely contradicting feelings with just a few words, with just a short sentence. She nodded. "Thanks. For saving my life."

He let out a surprised laugh. "If it hadn't been for me, you wouldn't have been in any danger in the first place."

"Van..."

"I'm sorry. I had no right to get you involved in this." His hand closed around the now empty water bottle and squashed the plastic, the noise disturbing the silence.

Hitomi nudged his leg with her foot under the table and smiled carefully when he looked up at her, surprised. His shoulders sagged when he relaxed. "What now? Dryden said I couldn't leave the apartment. My parents will worry. They probably do already."

"I know. But maybe you can call them? Tell them you're alright?" Van shifted his gaze away from her.

"Yeah, I'll do that." Thick, black lashes concealed his eyes, hiding whatever emotion was visible in them.

When he turned he saw a hundred questions on her face. He looked away, looked at the floor, the wall, the windows where the blue flashing light of an ambulance was reflected, looked at the world beyond the glass. "I'll talk to Dryden tomorrow and we'll see what we're gonna do."

She could go to the telephone, could dial the number of her parents, could tell them what happened, could ask them to come get her, could ask them to end this. That was all. A few clicks and a few more words and it would be all over for her. Like a dream. She would wake up in her own bed the next morning and everything would be the way it used to be.

Or she could trust Van.

She had never been good at deciding. She always feared to make the wrong decision, to regret her choice. Yet the decision had been made quite some time ago. Maybe when she had stood up for Van against Yukari. Maybe earlier. She couldn't tell.

She would wait for the next morning. She would wait for Dryden to make a suggestion about where to go. She would help Van. She would stay with him. She wanted to stay with him.

"Okay." Hitomi got up and carried her plate to the sink. The faucet hummed quietly when she rinsed the dish. They had said enough for one night.

Van stood up as well and stretched, running his hands through his tousled hair. "I'll try to go to sleep. What about you?"

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep today. There's too much to think about. I guess I'll just keep Merlin company." She turned slightly and smiled.

He nodded and turned to leave but stopped in the doorframe. "You don't happen to have any chewing gum?"

Hitomi frowned and shook her head. "I'm afraid not, sorry."

"Doesn't matter. Good night."

"Good night." He looked at her a moment longer and she thought she saw a faint smile tugging at his lips before he turned and left.

* * *

A/N: Hey there, remember me? Sorry for the long wait (again) but you see, I haven't given up on my stories and I won't...it will just take a bit longer to finish them than I thought when I started it :P

Some other thing: The title of the chapter is a line from "Learn to crawl" by Black Label Society (I think...) So, I don't own this one. Just like I don't own the title of chapter 13. It's from "Bedroom Dancing" by Day One. I've never mentioned it before but I did so now.

Thanks so much to everybody who reviewed! THANKS!

And a huge THANK YOU to **Kagome1514** as well who beta-read the chapter at the speed of light! (Boy, if I was as fast at updating as you're at beta-reading, I'd be one happy woman :P Thank you!)

Have a fantasterrific time until I bug you again,

Dariel


	16. Shades of Grey

Chapter 16 Shades of Grey

„Try putting on a smile for a change."

Millerna's head snapped up when she heard Eries's voice beside her. There was a smile tugging at her sister's lips when she handed her a filled mug. Café latte with French vanilla flavour. The rich brown liquid was hidden beneath a layer of whipped cream.

"You've been looking like you want to tear someone to pieces since you met Allen yesterday evening." Eries sat down beside her and the leather couch sighed softly.

Millerna wrapped her slim fingers around the hot mug, absorbing the warmth and the scent. It was sweet and so strong that she could almost taste it. Her feet were cold so she tugged them against her side and placed a pillow on top.

That last evening seemed like a dream to her now. Like a bad dream. And yet, there it was, lying on the couch table, touched so many times that the black leather had stopped shining a long time ago, the proof that it was real; Allen's black journal. Millerna wasn't looking at it, she didn't want to. She had been looking at it for the entire evening, had read it over and over again during the night, wishing the letters would disappear, wishing the pages blank.

She took a sip of her coffee and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"No, you're not." Eries sighed and looked at her sister who still refused to open her eyes. "Don't say it when you don't mean it. I understand that you're upset but --"

"I'm confused, Eries," Millerna interrupted her and her eyelids opened tiredly. She was staring at the floor, the steam coming from her coffee warming her cheeks. "When I go past that stage, then I'll be upset."

Eries's expression softened and she folded her hands tightly in her lap, stopping them from reaching out for Millerna. Eries knew her sister wouldn't like it. "Millerna..."

Millerna looked up, her lilac eyes impatient. "Eries, it's alright. There is nothing you can do for me right now. I just need to think."

Her sister smiled, her lips curling softly at the corners. "You were thinking all night."

"No, not all night." She turned away to hide her grin. "I fell asleep a few times."

"If you say so." Eries looked up when Chid's voice sounded from another room, his laughter echoing throughout the house and mixing with Allen's deep baritone. Her eyes shone. "But you know that I'm here if you want to talk about it."

"What is there to talk about? It's just a stupid journal." Maybe if she kept telling herself, she would start believing it. Millerna set her mug down on the table and leaned her head against the backrest of the couch, staring at the ceiling. "Just a stupid journal. Why should I believe what someone wrote in a stupid journal?"

Eries directed her intense blue gaze at the journal. "Denial won't get you anywhere."

No, it wouldn't but it eased the pain that was deeply throbbing inside her. She couldn't determine where it was coming from and it left her unable to make it stop hurting. She did not know where to put the plaster, did not know what part of herself to wrap with band-aid. Everything was hurting and she wanted to cry out.

She wished that stupid journal was lying. She wished the things Allen and his father had discovered were a lie. She wished she had never touched the journal's cold, leathery cover.

The words had spat the truth at her with venom, a truth she had tried so long to ignore. Marlene's death had not been an accident. Leon Schezar, Allen's father, had died with her that night when their car had been shoved into the incoming traffic, crashing into a 20 ton semi. It had been murder.

Marlene had met Leon Schezar to tell him about Dornkirk Inc. and about the project they were working on, a project that broke the laws of genetic engineering and every ethical guideline there was. Marlene had not believed in the project. Marlene had not believed in Dornkirk. It had cost her life.

Maybe the reason why Millerna was aching so much was that her entire world had just crumbled above her, the debris of her beliefs raining down on her. Dornkirk had been like a father for her, supporting her when her family had not, encouraging her when her family had done the exact opposite, believing in her when her family had refused to.

And now she was being told that the man who had made her see the future, who had helped her build her dreams, that he had given the order to have her sister eliminated. She felt torn inside, her feelings confused and contradictory. It hurt so much. She loved him for what he had done for her, for all the opportunities he had given to her but had abused her trust, had lied to her.

Millerna pressed her lips together and closed her eyes. A tear slipped from between her closed eyelashes, leaving a hot trail down her cheek.

"What if it is just another lie?" Her voice was faint, breaking, the words stumbling across her lips. "Why should I believe Allen's words more than Isaac's?"

"Not Allen's words but your sister's." Eries placed her hand on Millerna's leg. "Do you think Marlene was a liar?"

Millerna bit her lip until she tasted blood.

There were letters and notes in the journal, addressed to Allen's father. The sender was Marlene. Millerna would recognize her sister's handwriting everywhere. The quickly yet perfectly drawn letters covered birthday cards and little notes she kept like treasures in her diary.

She didn't want it to be true for it meant that everything she had believed in was wrong. And it meant that Dryden was right.

Millerna blinked and her eyes darted around as if they had forgotten where they were. Her gaze brushed the clock and maybe for the first time that morning she noticed the time. "I'm late for work."

Her own voice had sounded strange in her ears, oddly detached. Eries's eyes burned into her. "Millerna. You cannot – "

"What, Eries?" Their eyes met when Millerna turned to face her older sister. Anger was simmering beneath the pain. It was licking its way up her throat until she could taste its bitterness on her tongue. It would leave acid burns on her words.

"I cannot go to work? Well, what else can I do? I cannot stay here either. I cannot go to my apartment, cannot think about it any longer, cannot let myself drown in self-pity." Millerna was breathing heavily, her cheeks flushed. Her ears rang from her own voice.

"Why not?" Eries's quiet and calm words made her even more angry. Why wouldn't her sister understand?

"Because I don't want to," Millerna replied through gritted teeth, her hands curled into fists at her side when she rose. She stared at Eries and found pity in her eyes. "You think it is my own fault. You think because I refused to listen to you I deserve this."

Eries's eyes darkened. A rare expression settled on her features; anger. "Millerna, don't say that. Don't even think it."

Her voice was still quiet but there was a dangerous strength reverberating with her words. However, Millerna did not seem to listen. She had come to a conclusion and it was definite for her. She turned on her heel and headed towards the front door.

"Don't you dare walk out of that door, Millerna!" Eries yelled and her sister froze. The words were like chains Eries had thrown at Millerna and they held her tightly on the spot.

Millerna couldn't remember a single occasion when her sister had raised her voice, let alone yelled at her. She was shocked. It wasn't the fact that Eries had yelled, it was the sound of her voice that had chilled Millerna to the core. It had sounded familiar. She had heard it a long time ago. It had sounded like Marlene's voice.

"I've let you walk out that door in so many fights because I thought you would realize how much of a coward you are," Eries continued and her voice was shaking with restraint anger. Millerna could feel her sister's eyes burning into her back and the heat crawled slowly up her neck, sweat gathering at the hairline. "I thought you would grow up one day. I thought you would stop running away."

Millerna turned around to face Eries, the air vibrating with tension. Her cheeks were red and her fists balled at her side. She hated Eries's straight posture, always perfect even when she was angry. "What do you want me to say?"

Eries's eyes narrowed even more and Millerna could see them shimmer, a veil of stubborn tears covering the irises. "You've always been like that. Always assuming everybody around you is criticising you, patronizing you, trying to choose your future for you and you enjoyed playing the victim with the entire world against you." Surprise flashed across Millerna's features. That wasn't what she had expected to hear. "But you know what? Nobody is! Nobody ever was! It was never about what everybody else wants, what I want. It's about what you want. What do you want, Millerna?"

She was dumbstruck. What did she want? She didn't know. Go on with work as if nothing had happened? Stop working? Ignore Allen's journal?

Allen and Chid stood in the doorway at the far end of the room, watching her. Allen's hands were resting on Chid's shoulders. His features were relaxed for he knew there was nothing he could do. This was between the sisters.

"I don't know. I just don't know." Pain. Disappointment. Anger. Emotions whirled inside Millerna. "What I do know is that I won't find out here."

* * *

Yukari stared out of the kitchen window. Heavy drops of rain were falling from a grey sky and washed the dirt off their driveway. Huge puddles gathered on the lawn. 

It was nine in the morning on a weekday and she was at home, washing the dishes instead of being at work and serving breakfast. She should be balancing plates on her arms, making good money an hour but she wasn't. She should be in the restaurant, making up stories together with Hitomi for the people who came to eat there. But she knew Hitomi would not have been there this morning.

It still felt odd. After seeing Hitomi on the news the day before everything had blurred. For half an hour she had stared at the TV screen, not able to believe what she was seeing, not able to comprehend it. It was as if her brain refused to accept it just because it was simply impossible.

The window was slightly open and she could hear the metallic batter of the rain that hit Amano's beat up Ford. She watched him scramble out of the car and hurry to the front door. When he rang the doorbell she was already there.

"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at work," he said and water dripped from his lips. He stepped into the hallway and a puddle of water immediately gathered around his feet.

"I couldn't go." Yukari had not been able to leave the house. She could always call in ill. "How did you know I was home?"

"I did not." Amano smiled. Outside the rain was roaring. "I went to the restaurant and when they told me you didn't show up for work I guessed you'd either be home or at the Kanzaki's."

Yukari threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. The water soaked through her clothes but she didn't care. He was warm. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Pulling away, she looked down herself. "Alright, I'm gonna get you a towel."

Amano watched her as she sauntered towards the bathroom and closed the front door that was still wide open. "I'm sorry I came so late," he called and followed Yukari. "I wanted to come right after I saw the news yesterday but I couldn't get out of work sooner. Man, it was pure chaos at the station. Everybody was going crazy over The Story of the Century. I was all over town with my team and that ridiculously heavy equipment."

Yukari emerged from the bathroom with a towel and chucked it at him. "Yeah, I freaked when I saw the news. I knew there was something up with that boy but I didn't expect that. You don't happen to know any more about it, do you?"

"No, I don't. I just know what you saw on TV. There is nothing we didn't broadcast."

She had walked into the living room and sat on the arm rest of the couch, smiling weakly at Amano who had slipped out of his wet jacket and was towelling his hair. "I'm glad you're here."

Yukari was worried sick and angry. She hadn't heard anything from Hitomi, didn't know if she was alright and she wanted to hurt her friend for it. She was angry at Hitomi for pulling a stunt like that and angry at herself for letting her go after their fight. She had been trying to tell Hitomi that Van was bad news. His face was all over the media and she just wanted her to stay out of trouble. Hitomi had stood up for Van which was utterly incomprehensible for Yukari. When they had parted they had been still yelling at each other.

Amano went to stand beside her and she began playing with the hem of his shirt. The house was completely quiet, still sleeping it seemed. "So, the Kanzaki's don't know anything either?"

"No, they don't. They called the police and everything but nothing else, no." She sighed and twisted his shirt into a knot. "Merle said she would drop by after breakfast."

Amano grabbed her wrists softly and held her hands apart. "How are you feeling?"

"Worried. I didn't think she could get into so much trouble. I really wanna kick her butt right now." Her face was serious and he knew her thoughts were elsewhere.

When the doorbell suddenly rang, Yukari almost fell off the couch. It sounded like a shot in the silence. "I'll get it."

Merle stood on the door step, in front of the pouring rain. A bright, lime green umbrella was perched on her shoulder, shielding her a little from the wetness. A few drops fell from the brim onto her yellow raincoat that was a strong contrast to her pink her. She was an explosion of colours.

"Hitomi called," Merle panted.

Yukari's eyes widened and she grabbed Merle's arm, almost hurling her into the house. The door slammed shut. "What?"

"Ouch, woman!" Merle complained, shaking Yukari and rain off of her sleeves. "I said Hitomi called."

Yukari was hardly able to contain her nervousness. "What did she say? Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, she's fine." Merle looked up when she spotted Amano approaching. "Hi Amano."

Amano nodded at her and Yukari smacked her fist into her palm. "Good, because I will beat her within an inch of her life when I get my hands on her. Even more so because she didn't bother to call me."

Merle smiled and brushed a damp strand of hair behind her ear. "She mentioned you. Said you shouldn't worry."

Yukari scowled and then threw her hands up in the air. "Where on Earth is she?"

"She wouldn't say." Merle watched raindrops slide down the smooth sleeve of her raincoat, falling from the edge.

Yukari's arms were crossed in front of her chest. "What did she say?"

Merle sighed. "Nothing, really. Just that she's alright. That we shouldn't worry. That she will be back soon."

Yukari averted her eyes, her lips pressed to a thin line. The noise of the rain that was battering heavily against the windows seemed to increase, drinking up the silence and growing with every mute second.

She felt hurt. Hitomi had not called her. It seemed Hitomi did not trust her enough to tell her what was going on. Yukari felt anger rising within her and at the same time noticed how childish it was. She couldn't possibly be jealous of Hitomi's parents. They were just as worried as she was, maybe even more.

Yukari exhaled, feeling embarrassed. "Great. What are we gonna do now?"

Merle bit her lip and looked at Amano. He just shook his head. "Nothing. There is nothing we can do."

"I hate sitting around doing nothing," Yukari muttered, knowing that this was the real reason why she was angry. Hitomi had maneuvered her into a situation where she couldn't do anything, her hands bound.

Amano smiled. "We know that."

Yukari fell back on the couch, grabbed the remote and switched on the TV. "Maybe she will decide to make an appearance on TV again. We wouldn't want to miss that."

* * *

Dryden woke up to a weight on his chest and fur in his face. When his consciousness filtered back into the state of being awake he heard the loud, sonorous purring of Merlin. 

The cat was sitting on his chest, aiming with his furred paws at Dryden's chin. He groaned and rubbed his eyes. The events of the day before slowly became visible through the haze in his mind and he noticed the pounding inside his head. A painful thudding against the inside of his forehead. A fantastic way to start the day.

Rolling over, he covered Merlin beneath his sheets. "That's what you get for waking me up like that, buddy."

He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and felt the carpet rub against the bare soles of his feet. A slight dizziness blurred his vision because he had risen too quickly and he waited with his elbows resting on his knees until it faded.

Dryden hated waking up with a headache in the morning. He could hardly concentrate with a headache and he needed to concentrate now more than ever or his current situation would run him over like an avalanche.

By helping Van he had accepted to take the responsibility, now he had to deal with it. However, it wasn't as easy as he had thought, wasn't as easy as he had hoped it would be. Right now he didn't know what to do and that was a big problem because Dryden Fassa always knew what to do.

He looked up and saw the rain pounding hard against the window, leaving cold trails of a hundred tears on the glass. The city was drenched in a grey haze and the heat was finally being washed away.

Dryden stood up. He grinned when he saw a moving bulge in his sheets, indicating where Merlin was trying to find his way out. Grabbing his morning robe, Dryden left the room.

A cool draft tickled over his face when he walked down the hallway and it was a welcoming change to the pressing heat of these last days. He found the glass doors in his living room opened, the curtains swaying softly. It smelled wet and clean of rain and he could hear the raindrops splatter on his veranda.

Hitomi was in the kitchen. The windows were wide-open as well, inviting the coolness in to keep her company. She was sitting on a chair, knees popped up against the edge of the table, a book leaning against her thighs. She seemed to be absorbed in reading, her eyes wide and her mouth half opened in anticipation.

Dryden grinned. "You could have gone to the living room, you know?"

Hitomi gasped and jumped, the book tumbling to the ground with a rustling sound. Dryden chuckled. "I'm sorry."

She picked up the book and exhaled. "'S okay. I don't know why I stayed here. I felt kinda comfortable. I hope you don't mind me raiding your little library." She waved the book, ruffling the pages.

"Not at all, go ahead. People around here really don't read enough." He leaned against the doorframe and the air of casualty he radiated stunned Hitomi. She hadn't been able to sleep for a minute last night, the events of the day before too much to deal with, he, however, seemed perfectly fine with everything. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. I'm sorry for yesterday. For freaking out and causing so much trouble." Heat crawled slowly up her neck when she recalled her behavior. Her own actions suddenly seemed so ridiculous, embarrassing. She wanted to bury her face in her hands and laugh.

Dryden waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. It was just natural." He sauntered over to the counter and proceeded to store away the glasses Hitomi had rinsed earlier. "Did you call your parents?"

"Yeah, I just did," she replied quietly, her voice barely audible. "They freaked out. Said I should come back. Said I should call the police."

"So, what will it be? Do we have to get out of here as soon as possible because a SWAT team will break through my door any second?" His eyes betrayed the playful tone of his voice. Dryden was watching her intently, waiting for her reply and she knew that whichever decision she had made would be okay with him. He would find a way.

"No." Hitomi smiled, relieved about her own resolution. "I'll stay. I want to help. If I can be of help by staying, then I'll stay."

Dryden slightly inclined his head in a nod and his lips twitched for the briefest of moments. "Good girl. Did you talk with Van?"

"Yeah, we talked last night."

Things made sense now. Everything made sense.

"Where is he?" Dryden went to the fridge and bottles clinked against each other when he opened the door.

"Probably still sleeping. I haven't seen him since he went to bed last night." Hitomi watched Dryden as he emerged from the fridge with a carton of milk in his hand and headed straight for the packages of cereal that stood neatly lined on the counter.

Dryden chose _Lucky Charms _and poured himself a generous bowl. He glanced at Hitomi over the brim of his glasses. "Do you mind waking him up? There are a few important things we have to talk about."

"Okay, I'll get him." Hitomi hopped off her chair, her mind racing. What was going to happen? She had been thinking about this the entire night, not able to come up with a single solution to this whole situation. She wondered what Dryden planned to do.

"Thanks," Dryden replied, his mouth full with _Lucky Charms_.

A cool breeze was sneaking through the apartment, crawling in through the open window in the kitchen and leaving through the living room, chasing the last bit of heavy warmth out of the corners from behind the shelves. It sneaked and wound around her feet like a snake. There was something in this air, something that tasted of change. She could feel it in her fingertips, a nervous twitching, and on her skin, a tensed prickling. Things were about to change. Everything was about to change.

Hitomi knocked softly at the bedroom door and listened. "Van?" She knocked again. "Van, I'm coming in."

The room was bathed in a dim light hat cast blurred shadows at her feet. She spotted Van on the bed, lying on his stomach with his legs tangled in the sheets. He was obviously fast asleep.

Biting down a grin, Hitomi tiptoed to the bed and sat carefully down on the edge. The mattress dipped slightly. "Van?" she whispered again. "Hey, wake up."

She reached out a hand to softly nudge his shoulder but as soon as her fingertips came in contact with his skin she gasped and jerked her hand away. His skin was burning.

"Van?" she called again, this time louder and with a worried edge to her voice.

Something just wasn't right. She sat back and noticed that his skin shimmered with sweat and that his breathing was erratic. His back did not fall slowly but quick and violent as if his body was in dire need of oxygen.

Hitomi shook his shoulder harder and he moaned quietly. Leaning over his back, she brushed his bangs out of his eyes and found that his forehead felt as if it was on fire and his face covered with a layer of sweat.

"Dryden! Something's wrong with Van!" Her yell echoed down the hallway and startled Dryden out of his morning routine. He spilled his cereal all over the kitchen floor and the shards of the broken bowl mixed with his _Lucky Charms_.

His face hardened. The last thing they needed right now were more problems.

His good-humoured air had already evaporated when he burst through the door of Van's room and hurried to Hitomi's side. The stony expression on her face did not lighten his suddenly darkened mood. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know. He's burning and doesn't wake up." She slid off the bed to make room for Dryden and stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest. Her face was pale.

Dryden touched Van's back but pulled his hand immediately away. "Holy crap!"

For a moment, the room was completely silent, the echo of Dryden's exclamation already faded in the hallway. Weak light drowned his face in shadows. He wasn't able to follow the thoughts that were flashing through his mind at that moment, too many possibilities, too many things to go wrong.

Dryden blinked and leaned forward, proceeding to turn Van on his back. He didn't wake up and Dryden pressed his hand quietly against Van's forehead, exhaling.

"He's got one hell of a fever." Without turning around, he addressed Hitomi, "I have a clinical thermometer in the closet with the mirror in the bathroom. Could you, please, get it, Hitomi?"

A quick nod and she was gone. The thermometer was easily found and she hurried back to the bedroom, her mind blank.

Dryden took the device from her cold hand and held it against Van's ear. "Did he seem like he was going to be sick yesterday?"

Hitomi stared for a moment and then shook her head. "No, not really. He only complained that it was hot although the AC was running full blast. What does it say?"

The thermometer had sighed a faint peep, announcing that it was done taking Van's temperature. Dryden let out a surprised laugh. He shook his head. "It says we have to do something really fast. His temperature is way past the life-threatening limit. If I didn't know about Van's little situation, I'd say this thing is broken for his temperature is ridiculously high."

He stared at the digital number on the tiny screen and evaluated his options. There weren't so many. "Hitomi, go fill the bathtub with cold water and get all the ice from the freezer."

When he cast a look over his shoulder to see if she had heard his order, Hitomi had already left. He smiled briefly and started to pick up Van from the bed. A grunt left Dryden's lips upon lifting the boy for he was about double the weight than he had expected.

In the bathroom the water was roaring angrily into the tub and Hitomi watched when Dryden set Van carefully into the tub. His pants were soaked immediately with the water that already covered the bottom of the tub. "We need to lower his temperature."

Hitomi kneeled on shiny tiles, her eyes fixed on Dryden. "Dryden?"

He didn't say anything at first and all she heard was the water splashing on Van's clothes. Dryden sighed and turned to face her. "I don't know, Hitomi. For all we know Sleeping Beauty could have caught a cold or something. He's never been exposed to your average dirty city environment. You wouldn't believe how many bacteria are swirling through the very air you're breathing. It's a freakin' zoo."

She watched him grab the set of ice cubes she had brought from the freezer. They clinked loudly against the ceramic of the tub. "But does it still happen so fast and so violent?"

Dryden ran a wet hand through his hair. "No. Yes. I don't know, everything is possible with that boy. Argh, that wasn't part of the plan!"

Van's head was tilted to the side, his cheek resting against the cool surface of the bathtub's rim. His arms hung limply into the water that already reached to his elbows. It pained Hitomi to see him like that, it pained her to be helpless once again. "Is there anything I can do?"

Dryden inhaled deeply and leaned back, his arms propped up against the floor. "We could take a blood sample and examine what is wrong. We could go through his health record and look for something, anything that would explain...but it's pointless! We don't have that much time. He has an incredible ability to regenerate which is the only thing keeping him alive right now and I don't know for how much longer. Crap, why now?"

Unfolding his legs, Dryden angrily rose from the ground and stormed out of the bathroom. Upon reaching his study he slammed his palm flat against the door. He couldn't believe this was happening to him. Things like that never happened to him. He always knew what to do. The hands of Dryden Fassa were never bound. He always found a way to wiggle out.

With his hands tangled in his hair, he let his gaze sweep restlessly across the room, across his desk that was hardly visible under all the documents, across the files that were piling in his shelves. It was ridiculous, they could never go through all of these, there just wasn't enough time. But why now? They had been so close.

Dryden started sorting through the files on his desk, proceeding to store them away on the shelves where they belonged. He didn't even know what to do first. What were you supposed to do with a fever that would have anybody else dead already?

He opened the files that had no labelling, sorting them by topic and date. Maybe he could give Van antipyretic medication and hope that firstly, Van was not allergic to it and secondly, that it would give them more time until Dryden could come up with something else.

Grabbing the next file, he opened it swiftly and cast a quick glance on the cover sheet. It was the file his father had given him the day before. He hadn't yet looked at it, too many things on his mind, his priorities somewhere else.

The label read "Possible complications due to genetic defect".

The sheets rustled when he turned them, his eyes roaming the table of contents. Adrenaline shot through his body, making his hands shake. He turned more pages, absorbing the lines.

"That idiot!" Dryden smacked his forehead and ran out of the room. "That blasted idiot! He plays around with DNA, creates a new kind of human being but he cannot do it right, that old fool."

He found Hitomi in the bathroom where she was making sure that Van did not slip into the water. The faucet had been turned off and the only noise in the room was Van's heavy breathing. Hitomi looked up when Dryden entered, a questioning look on her face.

"How much do you know about the production of energy in the human body?" Dryden was speaking fast and the excitement in his voice was intense and tangible, filling the entire room like thick syrup. It wasn't exactly what Hitomi had expected. She blinked.

"Um, some."

Dryden was waving a folder in his hand, loose sheets rustling. "Due to his DNA being manipulated Van is missing an enzyme that you and I have and which is pretty much ordinary as long as you have it. It's called hexokinase and it is essential for energy production. Because he is missing it, Van's body cannot produce energy and instead produces heat. A lot of heat."

Hitomi stared at him and Dryden waved the folder again. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Something that could have been anger flashed briefly across her eyes but it was gone before it could spread across her face. She shook her head. "I do. What can we do about it?"

"Get the enzyme, of course." Dryden's lips twitched and turning on the spot, he left the bathroom.

Hitomi scrambled to her feet, bewildered. "Dryden, wait!"

She found him in the room where Van had been sleeping, rummaging through Van's backpack. Rain was battering against the window. "What are you doing?"

"Van doesn't know he has that defect, he doesn't know he was taking the enzyme everyday." Dryden turned the backpack upside down and the contents rained on the floor, the sound muffled by the carpet. "It is in his chewing gum. They added a substance that would cause a slight addiction to make sure he would take it every day."

Dryden's hands spread Van's belongings over the floor and the chewing gum wrapping he picked up rustled between his fingers. "It's all gone."

Images flashed through Hitomi's mind of the paper of Van's gum everywhere, him chewing the gum every time she saw him, him sticking the gum under a bench with a wink over and over again. She rubbed her forehead. "He ran out of it a while ago."

"I thought so." Dryden stood up and immediately went to his room.

The door slammed loudly shut and was thrown open again barely a minute later, revealing Dryden fully dressed. He hurried to the front door where he was picking up his jacket, keys jingling in his right hand. Merlin was chewing on his shoes.

Hitomi leaned against the doorframe. "Where are you going?"

"To the lab. They have what we need." He turned and stepped through the door. "I'll be right back."

* * *

Forty minutes later, Dryden Fassa entered Dornkirk Inc., soaked to the bones. The sliding doors closed behind him with a sigh, shutting out the roaring of the rain. The city was wrapped in grey, heavy raindrops pulling the clouds towards the ground until they got stuck between the skyscrapers and were squeezed dry. 

Dryden left wet footsteps in his wake when he crossed the foyer. This time, there was nobody waiting for him, nobody was expecting him at this time. Nodding at Bethany, the receptionist, he went to the elevator.

His shoes clicked over the marble tiles and the echo bounced off the walls. The rich scent of a dozen different flowers filled his nostrils when he was waiting for the elevator to arrive and he inhaled deeply.

He wasn't nervous. There was no reason to be nervous. Nobody knew about his plans but Van and Hitomi, nobody could guess why he was here for. He had never given away the slightest hint about what he had in mind for the company, for the project. He had openly displayed his disagreement with his father, yet he had never displayed any sign of being about to betray him. Then, why were his hands sweaty?

This wasn't about getting caught. As a member of the project he had legal access to the lab. As the son of Maiden Fassa he could come and go as he pleased. This was about something else. This was about him and his father, was about his plan, about his idea of what was right and wrong, wasn't it?

The doors of the elevator opened with a single ring. Dryden did not move.

One question hollowly echoed in his mind, droning out every other thought. Why did he want to help Van? For the sake of Van or for the sake of his revenge on his own father? This was exactly what he had been preaching to Millerna just the day before, hypocrite he was. This was everything he did not want. This was his father.

It was just the same, same way of thinking, same way of argumentation, a way of argumentation that would fit his needs, bent to support his idea. There was nothing just about it. Just because it was his idea of doing right didn't mean it was any better than what Dornkirk or his father or Millerna did. They were all right in their own twisted way of thinking. Tell yourself long enough that you are right and you will soon believe that indeed you are and there wasn't a single argument that could make you stumble and leave your path. There was not.

It was so easy, so easy to get wrapped up in an idea, to be obsessed with an idea so that the things around it blurred and slowly faded, things that were important.

When the doors of the elevator slid slowly shut, Dryden stretched out his arm to stop them. He entered swiftly and swiping his access card through the slit below the number pad, he punched the button for the basement.

He needed to set his priorities straight. He needed to decide what was more important to him, personal revenge or a life.

The elevator stopped and Dryden entered the lab. He didn't even notice when he was being screened and watched. He didn't care. Grabbing a white coat from the rack that leaned heavily against the wall, he entered the hallway.

He knew every corner of the lab. The storage room was on the fifth lower level at the south east corner. It took him more than ten minutes to get there. The room was huge, one of the biggest collections of chemical substances in every aggregate state and colour he had ever seen.

A row of computers watched over the shelves and allowed the employees to find what they were searching for in less than a minute. Dryden sat down at the first computer beside the door and used the digital database to determine the location of hexokinase. The bright light of the screen was reflected in his glasses and illuminated his face.

Two results matched his inquiry, hexokinase in form of tablets and hexokinase in a liquid state. Knowing that Van was hardly able to swallow any pills he decided to go for the substance that he could possibly inject directly into Van's system. The catalogue number was FT-034.

Dryden jumped out of the chair and dove into the labyrinth of shelved. His coat flapping around his sides, he hurried down the aisle.

FR. FS. FT.

His eyes scanned the labels, his blood roaring in his ears.

030. 031. 032. 033. 034.

He looked up and his eyes widened. The shelf was empty.

His mind reeled. No, that couldn't be. Why would it be gone? They had to make sure that there was always a supply just in case a situation like this happened.

Dryden whirled around and ran. He had to check on the pills. He would find a way to make Van take them. He didn't reach the computer at the end of the aisle.

Someone blocked his way and he stopped dead in his tracks. Millerna.

"Looking for this?"

He gaped. Millerna stood in front of him, wearing a white coat over her clothes just like he did. One of her hands was buried in a pocket of the coat, the other was holding a small bottle. Light was reflected on its smooth surface. Silence grew between them, stretching its invisible fingers to the farthest corners of the room.

A smile curled Millerna's lips. "Dryden Fassa at a loss of words, I have to mark this day in my calendar so I can celebrate it every year."

Dryden closed his mouth and inclined his head slightly. A frown ceased his forehead. "How do you know?"

"Dryden, contrary to what you think I'm not stupid. I can do the math." She waved the bottle and Dryden could see a translucent liquid squish from side to side. "Why else would you be here? As far as I know you're not missing this certain type of enzyme."

"Why did you take it?" He took the bottle from Millerna's outstretched hand when she stepped closer and offered it to him. It was warm.

She shrugged and her golden curls bounced on her shoulders. "I was going to find Van myself. I knew there wasn't much time left and nobody here was doing anything about it."

"But you don't know where he is."

"I had some ideas." Anger flashed in Millerna's ayes when she saw Dryden's lips twitch. "At least, I wasn't sitting around doing nothing!"

He smiled softly. "Thank you."

Millerna crossed her arms in front of her chest, trying to stop her features from relaxing. She wasn't giving in so easily. He couldn't just say thank you and she would forgive him. "How is he? I didn't think he would need it already."

"Doesn't look so good. I have to hurry back home." Dryden stepped past Millerna and continued his way down the aisle. "I can just inject it directly, right?"

Millerna replied in the affirmative and followed him to the door. The noise of their footsteps echoed between the shelves.

"And this is the only one they have here?" Dryden called over his shoulder.

She stopped behind him when they had reached the door. "There were actually two bottles but one was already gone when I came here. They're just for a case of emergency. There is more within a day of transportation where they actually produce it."

"Okay." Dryden opened the door and turned to face her.

Her brows were furrowed, arms crossed in front of her chest. "Dryden, why are you doing this? You're destroying your father's business."

"I know." He smiled ironically. "Call me selfish but if I make up my mind I'll do everything to get what I want. In this aspect, we're quite alike, Millerna. I have to admit that I wronged you yesterday and I'm sorry about that."

The door fell shut, leaving Millerna staring at the empty space that had been occupied by Dryden a second ago. She had wanted to tell him that she was sorry.

* * *

Heavy rain still fell from the sky, painting the city with wet grey colors and washing the dirt from the sidewalk. A rivulet was winding its way down the street, carrying away forgotten trash and leaves. Big drops splashed on windows and hoods of cars, their cumulated voices a steady roaring. 

Vargas hadn't bothered to bring an umbrella. The warm rain had long since drenched his coat, water dropping from his fingertips and nose while he was walking down the street. His eyelashes were spiked with moisture. He didn't see the people walking by him, bumping into him, hidden underneath their umbrellas.

He had set out to find Van on his own. Dornkirk wasn't doing anything but watching, Dilandau was watching, Vargas himself had been forced to watch and he knew Van was running out of time. He couldn't understand why nobody was doing anything about it, why nobody answered his questions.

Rain splattered loudly on a little newsstand at the corner of the street. The owner sat huddled between his magazines and newspapers, sipping on a can of Dr. Pepper. Vargas stopped and glanced at the headlines. Without an exception they were all sporting a picture of Van's winged silhouette against a bright sky.

A smile curled involuntarily around his lips and he shook his wet head. It was ironic how he was out on his own for hardly a month and was already the top story in every paper and on every channel, undoing the work of more than 18 years.

Not that he cared. Vargas had never cared about the project. His first priority had always been Van.

He could remember the day very well when the offer to take part in the project had reached him. He had been working for Dornkirk for 6 years already and he was satisfied with what he had. He declined the offer, his family more important than a breakthrough in science.

He was happy with his decision until his wife and daughter died in a car accident almost one year later. It had been a day like this. Grey. Rainy. Slippery streets hardly visible within the second the windshield wipers brushed away the veil of water. A moment of inattention. A turn. Trees. A family destroyed.

Work had been his solace, his own home unbearable, breathing too many memories. He remembered the offer he had declined that one day and decided to lose himself in it.

Vargas was there when Van arrived in the lab and the boy and his temper found their way easily into his heart. To Vargas, Van was like a son. To Vargas, Van was a son. He brought him up, scolded him, taught him, watched him grow. The only times he smiled was because of Van. And now, he was not going to lose him.

He had only one clue, one idea as to where to start his search. He didn't know if Van would be there, Van could be anywhere. But it was his only choice.

The sidewalk stretched to his left and right, a stairway leading up to the front of an apartment building in front of him. Red bricks were dark with rain. He walked up the stairs and rang the doorbell.

The intercom crackled. "Hello?"

"Mr. Fanel, this is Vargas Maradha, I'm here because of your brother." Vargas spoke with his face close to the intercom, trying to be louder than the rain.

There was a brief silence, then, "My brother is not here."

Vargas smiled. "I did not expect that. May I come up?"

"If you're here to get answers, you can leave right away." Folken's anger rang loudly with his words.

Vargas leaned even closer and water dripped into his eyes. "No, please, don't get me wrong. I've got answers and I thought you might have some questions."

The intercom clicked and Vargas was about to ring the doorbell again when the front door buzzed.

Across the street, behind a row of parked cars and a veil of splattering rain, Dilandau was leaning against a low stone fence, watching as Vargas entered the apartment building. He adjusted his umbrella and pulled his cell phone out of the inside pocket of his jacket. He punched the speed dial.

It rang twice before a click signalled that the call was being answered. "Vargas is at Folken Fanel's place now. He just entered."

"Very well," the gruff voice on the other end replied.

Dilandau scratched the top of his cap and pulled it deeper into his face. "What are my next orders?"

"There is no next order. You're done with your job." Another click and the line was dead.

Dilandau snapped the phone shut and let it slip back into his pocket. He tilted his umbrella slightly so that the rain dripped from the pointed edges. It fell into the open palm of his pale, outstretched hand.

* * *

When Van woke up he wished he were still sleeping. Almost without him noticing, his hands lifted and pressed against his forehead. His head felt like it was swollen to double its size and was hurting like never before. Rain was pounding against the window and it sounded like a thousand angry feet stomping through his mind. 

His room was dark and he slowly got up. He couldn't recall anything that might be the reason for this fine specimen of a head ache.

The light from the hallway pierced into his head like a hot needle when he opened the door. Shielding his eyes, he walked towards the voices that were conversing softly in another room and it was like walking over a dream. The ground seemed to move and his knees felt weak, about to give in any second. It frustrated him for his mind was working properly, his body was just refusing to follow his orders.

Nearing the kitchen, he could smell onions and garlic and fish. When the voices stopped he could hear something sizzle.

He spotted Dryden and Hitomi. She was chopping carrots expertly, piles of sliced green peppers and mushrooms already gathering around her. Dryden was by the stove, emerged in a smoky cloud.

"What's the time?" Van asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

Hitomi's head snapped up and a wide smile stretched across her features. Dryden turned to face him. "It's past eight in the evening, glad you could join us. How do you feel?"

"Like I was run over by a bus. What happened?" Van leaned against the doorframe.

Hitomi licked her lips and cast a quick glance at Dryden. "You were very sick."

Van frowned and was opening his mouth the reply when Dryden chimed in. "Well, I wouldn't exactly call it sick. But why don't you wake up completely first and then have some of my delicious fish dish before we explain everything?"

"I guess. I'll take a shower then." Before he turned he met Hitomi's eyes, her smile soft. He grinned.

The shower indeed did wonders. His body woke from the daze it had been in since he got out of bed and his thoughts were whirling through his mind. He couldn't believe he had slept almost an entire day. Hitomi had said he had been sick. He hadn't felt sick the night before. He been tired but not so much to sleep 18 hours and it also didn't explain why he felt as if every muscle had been removed from his body.

His hands fisted in frustration. He liked to know what was going on with him.

Turning off the water, he stepped out of the shower and dressed. Dryden better have a good explanation. This growing secrecy was annoying him past the point of being able to control his temper. He was getting sick of it. He wanted it to stop.

Hitomi was setting the table when he entered the room, towelling his hair. "Feeling better?"

Wrapping the towel around his neck, he nodded. "Thanks," he said and smiled when she frowned. "For whatever you did."

The knuckles of the hand that held the forks were white. There was something in her eyes. "You had a fever but I guess Dryden can explain best."

"I'll be with you in a moment," Dryden called from where he stood at the stove, trying to drown out the noise of the loudly sizzling food.

The door bell rang.

The three of them looked up. Dryden turned off the stove and set the pan on a wooden cutting board. He wiped his hands on his apron.

"We aren't expecting any visitors, are we?" Dryden walked to the door, Van and Hitomi watching him intensely.

Different emotions played hide and seek on his features upon opening the door and his heart dropped to the hollows of his knees. Millerna had her arms crossed in front of her chest, her hair damp and one eyebrow raised.

"Why am I not surprised?" Dryden grinned.

Millerna pushed past him without saying a word and entered the apartment, leaving dirty puddles on the parquet floor. She stopped in the doorway to the kitchen and came face to face with Van who instantly tensed up. He was staring at her, his features darkening. He radiated a hostile silence and the monotonous sound pattern of the rain was unable to disperse it. The air crackled noiselessly.

"Why am I not surprised?" Millerna said and smiled.

* * *

**A/N: **Wow, is it really…? Could it be? After an entire year?! Yes, it's me, the not so glorious Dariel! Mwahah, no comments on that. Next chapter will be the last one, mwahaha! 

I bow, deeply ashamed, and apologize from the bottom of my heart for forgetting to acknowledge that my dearest P-Teddy took the time to read this over and correct it. I'm sorry, I know how busy you are and still, you corrected it. I did not mean to forget it, it simply slipped through one of the humongalicious holes in my memory in the few seconds between correcting the chap and uploading it TT Sad, I know. Again, my profound apologies::hugs madly goatishly tight::

Thanks also to snowblossoms for pointing out that awkward sentence :) You know I'm not a native English speaker and tend to get all tangled up in the language. Thanks for untangling!!

So, I guess, you'll hear from me next year :P:P JUST KIDDING!! I do not plan on taking so long again!

Dariel


	17. Final Stage

Chapter 17 Final stage

* * *

Silence filled the room and stuck to their clothes like viscid honey, filling their lungs, making it hard to breathe. Van stared at Millerna, his hands fisted so tightly that his nails bit into his palms.

Anger pooled in his stomach and humped its back like an irritated cat, extending its sparkling claws and baring its teeth. His body was turning rigid with aggression, his entire being radiating hostility in waves that crashed powerfully against the walls, leaving an echo.

The air was heavy with words that needed so desperately to be spoken.

"Here, let me take your coat," Dryden finally offered, shattering the silence like a window with a rock. Thousand invisible pieces fell noisily to the floor.

"Why are you here?" Van addressed Millerna icily and retreated until he felt the counter poke into his back, his eyes chaining her to the ground. "How did you find us? Dryden, what does this mean?"

Dryden took Millerna's coat. Rain drummed against the windows. "Calm down, Van. She won't do you any harm."

Millerna's eyes darted from Van to Dryden and back, surprise on her features. "Oh, Dryden didn't tell you?"

"Dryden didn't tell me anything," Van ground out and his anger stood between them like an insurmountable wall, broad and strong.

Dryden cast him a glare but his voice remained calm and controlled, knowing that a snide remark would only suffice in provoking Van even more. "I was just about to explain when you were so kind as to join us, Millerna. Why don't you take a seat?"

Van had crossed his arms in front of his chest. "What is this all about?"

"You better sit down, too," Dryden replied and motioned to the dining table, his eyes never leaving Van who stood by the counter like a cornered wild cat. Unpredictable.

"I rather stand."

"Okay, have it your way." Dryden inhaled, his eyes hard. "Last night you developed an extreme fever. Hitomi found you in the morning and couldn't wake you up. We found out that when your DNA had been altered, a mistake had been made and you are now missing an essential enzyme. You die without it. You were taking it every day without knowing it."

An expression of disbelief slid quietly across Van's features and his eyes lost their focus. He remembered. It was like he was watching himself, watching himself having lunch with Vargas back at the lab, watching himself reach absently inside the pocket of his pants to fish for something, watching himself pack in a hurry before he left the lab not forgetting this one trivial thing, watching himself empty his backpack in Dryden's apartment and a handful of gum wrapping tumbling to the floor. "The chewing gum."

Dryden inclined his head. "Yes."

One word with the force of a fist to the stomach, sending him stumbling and gasping for breath. He tripped over his own thoughts when he tried to comprehend it, too many things falling into place at the same time. Vargas's obsessive concern with his eating habits. His own apparent addiction to that chewing gum and the seemingly endless supply of it.

It was one more thing to add to the lies he had been told, the things he had _not_ been told. But his disappointment already ran so deep it didn't make any difference. He could not hurt any more.

"So, does this mean because of that I'm dependent on Dornkirk for the rest of my life?" His voice rose at the end of the sentence and the disdainful look he hurled at Millerna was painful. "This is all your fault!"

What had she expected? That Van would welcome her apology with open arms? That he would forgive her on the spot? She had abused his trust and he was clearly showing her that his hatred could be just as strong and deep as his trust. It would take a long time for that wound she had gashed into his flesh to heal.

"Van..."

"I don't want to hear it, Millerna!" Van yelled. "Nothing you will say can justify what you did. Nothing, Millerna."

Millerna felt anger rising inside her. She hadn't expected that he wouldn't even listen to her apology. "This is not about justification. I came to explain – "

"Stop it!" He interrupted her harshly, his eyes cold and clouded like a winter storm. She did not deserve to be heard, did not deserve the easy way out. He was not going to stand and listen and let her apologize for things that were beyond any apology. "You don't need to explain anything. You – "

"No, you stop it!" Hitomi suddenly shouted and her voice rang in the silence she had created. Staring at her in bewilderment, Van closed his mouth and Hitomi continued hotly, "Stop being so goddamn stubborn and listen to them, Van! They saved your life!"

Van's anger was like a contagious disease, spreading quickly and infecting everybody in the room. Hitomi could feel it crawling through her veins, slow and hot. She knew he had every right to be angry but he needed to listen. She had to save him from himself.

The surprise that had flashed across his features was quickly gone, replaced by the old resentment. "If it hadn't been for her, saving my life wouldn't have been necessary in the first place!"

He held Hitomi's angry glare for an endless moment before he pushed himself off the counter and walked to the glass door that led to the veranda. The curtains rustled when he pushed them away and exited the room, a roaring thunderstorm following in his wake.

"Let him go, both of you," Dryden said calmly when Hitomi and Millerna attempted to follow him. "He needs to cool down. A reasonable conversation is not possible with him right now."

"I expected him to be angry," Millerna muttered and let Dryden steer her to the dining table where she sat down. He motioned for Hitomi to follow.

The curtain swayed softly in the cool breeze that wafted in from the veranda. She stared at the spot where Van had disappeared, her eyes still narrowed. If he just wasn't so pig-headed, if he could rein his disposition just a little better. She knew she could hardly imagine how hard this must be for him but if he wasn't willing to listen he would just keep on hurting himself. Listening would be painful but just for a little while. It would stop, eventually.

With a sigh she turned around and reluctantly walked to the dining table.

"Don't worry, he'll listen later." Dryden sat down across the table beside Hitomi, watching Millerna intently. "What made you change your mind?"

Millerna didn't look up but smiled. She knew Dryden was gloating inside, congratulating himself for his glorious victory over her. "Things. A lot has been going on. I always thought it was what Marlene wanted. I defended her project because it was impossible to me that Marlene could ever be wrong. Now, that this is not true anymore, I don't know what to think."

Dryden's expression was serious but his eyes were sparkling, providing a small window as to what was going on inside him. He could see what Millerna was going through, he understood that it was hard for her, imagining what it would be like if his world suddenly fell apart. But inside he was bursting with happiness. Dryden didn't know what or who had opened her eyes, what had been the final proof she had needed and actually, he did not care. All he cared about was that Millerna was here with him. He would help her pick up the shards and take care that she wouldn't cut herself on one of them.

He had trouble holding back his grin. "So, you finally admit that I was right all the time?"

"I admit you had a point." Raising her eyes, she regarded Dryden with a calculating look. Her pride was not broken, still making her face glow. She was not going down so easily. "But you're not a saint either, Dryden. The end does not always justify the means."

"Indeed," he replied and inclined his head in a slight nod. "But I never said I was a saint. I thought I was, I never said it though."

Millerna's lips stretched in a hesitant smile and Dryden watched her. "What now?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know what I want, what I should think, what I should believe, what I should do. But I guess I have to make up my mind."

Dryden knew what he wanted. The words had been burning his tongue for so long because he had refused to speak them. But it was getting harder to hold them back, to keep them to himself. He needed to say it, needed her to know. "I still love you and sometimes I wonder if you deserve it."

Millerna started and her surprised lilac eyes met his. Heat crawled up her neck and she found herself at a total loss as to what he was trying to get at. It was so surreal she wanted to laugh if she hadn't felt like crying at that moment.

"Do you think you deserve it? Do you want to deserve it?" he inquired and forced her to hold his gaze, his eyes never leaving her, piercing through her, trying to break into her thoughts.

Did she?

It wasn't like he had given her any chance to forget. He had been frequently stepping into her life again throughout these last three years, cloaked in memories, constantly reminding her, showing her what she could have had but chose not to, torturing her. She hadn't asked for it.

Finally, she turned away. "This isn't the right time."

And yet she betrayed her own words, her thoughts straying back to his question. Did she want him to love her? She had been on a few dates but every single one of them hadn't been what she was searching for. Either they didn't have the right humour or didn't have the right smile or the right hobbies or whatever. There was always something wrong, always something missing. They were never what she wanted. They were never Dryden.

"It's never the right time." Dryden waved a hand dismissively. "Do you know that you actually never said no."

Millerna looked up again. "No."

Dryden smiled. "You just left me there kneeling on the ground, looking like an idiot, holding that damn expensive ring. I still haven't gotten an answer and I think three years is enough time to think about it even for a woman. I'm still waiting."

Hitomi squirmed in her seat, feeling rather uncomfortable. This was a conversation that was not meant for her to hear. It was like reading a diary that was not hers and she could feel warm shame pooling in her cheeks. Feeling like an intruder, she decided it was her cue to leave.

Neither Dryden nor Millerna seemed to notice when she slid off the chair and quietly stole away without a word of excuse. She headed toward the glass door to the veranda, her footsteps without a sound when she crossed the room. Gently parting the curtain, she slipped into the wet night and closed the door quietly behind her.

The night sky was dark grey, clouds pulled to the ground. The heavy rain had turned into a fine drizzle and the mist greedily distorted outlines, making everything look like a blurred photograph. Things stopped having a beginning and an end. They merged and twisted, pretending to be things they weren't. Noises seemed dull, light dimmed. The city seemed unreal, like a wavering reflection of itself, something that would vanish if you reached out to touch it, something that lost shape the longer you looked at it.

She found Van squatting on the stone wall that surrounded Dryden's veranda. Beyond it there were 30 stories of nothing and then wet asphalt. Van seemed ready to jump.

"What are you doing?" He started at her voice, grabbing the edge of the wall to regain his balance.

"Hitomi," he exhaled and she smiled when he wasn't telling her to leave right away. He was considering it though, she could tell by the hesitation in his voice. "I'm thinking. What do you want?"

"Just checking on you," she shrugged and she could feel her hair sticking to her head, heavy with innumerable raindrops. Water splashed around her feet when she walked toward him.

Van watched her and turned his head away when she reached his side. "Sorry about the outburst."

Hitomi studied his profile and saw that it was bothering him more than he was willing to admit. His brows were knitted and his jaw set like stone. "It's alright."

"It just makes me so angry," he pressed through gritted teeth and then his shoulders suddenly sagged as if his anger had seeped out of him, releasing the tense hold on his body. "I couldn't stop myself. I didn't mean to yell at you."

She hesitated less than a second, not enough time for her to change her mind. Reaching out a hand, she placed it on Van's and even in the twilight of this gloomy evening her skin was visibly paler against his tanned one. His fingers were warm and wet with rain beneath her palm and when he relaxed, she smiled carefully.

"I'm confused," Hitomi murmured and looked out at the city, lights swimming in water.

Van brushed strands of damp hair out of his forehead. Thirty stories below cars were roaring along the street, the noise hardly able to cut through the silence of the rain. It was a faint echo in the gorge of glass, it could have been imagined. "About what?"

Hitomi inhaled and waved her arms about. "Them, this, you. Dryden tried to explain some stuff while you were sleeping but still..." she trailed off and cast a glance at him. "Millerna is working in the lab, right?"

Unfettered, the rain fell weightlessly. "Yeah, I've known her for a long time. I trusted her. It's odd for up to that moment nobody had ever lied to me, at least I was never aware of it." His voice was quiet. "I've never been so angry in my life before, or so disappointed."

"Don't you think she knows?" His hand twitched and watching his profile closely, she found his eyes narrowing. "And yet she is here. Millerna gave Dryden the enzyme you needed."

So much could be said without saying anything. His silence was profound, carrying an army of words. Hitomi knew that he didn't want to talk about it anymore. It was okay with her. She hadn't come out here to press any answers from him. He would have to deal with that later. She had just wanted to guide him, knowing that his anger had blinded him. She had wanted him to see beyond his biased perspective for it was limiting his possibilities.

"Thanks for not telling your parents about...you know, the whole situation." His voice was soft, hesitant, and she smiled, looking out at the city. "Even after I lied to you."

Rain was running down her neck, soaking her clothes. She had thought she was mad at him for lying through his teeth but she couldn't really blame him. Being mad at him would have made her a hypocrite for she would have done just the same. She had already forgiven him. "Technically you didn't lie to me, you just didn't tell me the truth."

"Nicely put." He accepted it gratefully with a smile that twitched hesitantly at the corners of his lips. It was fragile like the first snow in winter and yet it was strong enough to lift her like a dozen arms, encouraging her to take yet another step toward him.

"However, I still can't explain to myself why I trust you. But I do, otherwise I wouldn't be here." She held her breath after voicing what had been on her mind for a long time, feeling his eyes on her, heavy like summer rain.

She had wanted him to know. It was important that he knew for one of them had to take the first step and somehow, she had felt brave enough to do it. She didn't need a reply. She was offering her hand and it was up to him when he felt ready to take it.

Van held out his arms, raindrops gathering in his palm, glistening cold against his skin. He watched the water drop from his knuckles and run down his arm. "It's my first rain." Voice barely above a whisper, he closed his eyes, concentrating on the feeling of rain in his face. "I thought it would be like a shower. It's not, it is so much lighter, I can barely feel it."

"There is heavier rain, believe me," Hitomi replied, watching him intently and he could hear the smile in her voice.

"I guess."

A million questions were burning her tongue. There was still so much she didn't understand, so much she couldn't understand because she simply didn't know him. She wanted to get to know him but all she could do was assure him it was okay, assure him she believed him, assure him she was there. Maybe one day he would believe it.

It had cooled down a little and Hitomi rubbed her bare, wet arms. "So, all this trouble, all this media buzz, all this confusion just to have you return to the lab."

Van's eyes hardened and beyond her shoulder he saw myriads of lights reflected in the window. "He actually never wanted to have me back. He wanted people to notice me."

Hitomi frowned. "Why? I thought the intention was to keep you hidden."

"I don't know," Van replied slowly, lifting one shoulder. He was looking at the street below that was hiding in clouds. "But he knows and I'm going ask him."

An incredulous expression crossed her features and she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "How?"

He turned to face her and she was surprised to find his eyes sparkling with laughter. "I open my mouth and articulate words in the structure of a question like you just did."

"Idiot!" she exclaimed in disbelief and shoved him, making him grin widely. She hadn't seen him smile like that in a while. "You know what I meant."

She knew of all the people that were involved with this situation, she was probably of the littlest help, more a factor to slow down the progress. But she also knew that she could make him smile and that he was grateful for it.

"Yes, I do." His lips twitched faintly. "Since I left the lab I feel restless and not just restless like I forgot a key somewhere and cannot find it. It's almost painful, I cannot concentrate and I have trouble sleeping at night. I know it won't stop until I go back there and get the answers I need. I'll go to his office and ask what I want to know."

He wanted to know what he was, why he was. He wanted to know what was the point of doing this to him. He thought he needed a reason and hoped he could go on from there, could start his own life.

Doubt drew Hitomi's brows together. "Now?"

"Now," Van replied, confirming his answer with a nod and the serious tone of his voice made the sceptic smile disappear from her features. "Actually, I was just about to leave when you happened to come out here."

Hitomi's brows almost vanished under her hairline and she outright stared at him. "Dryden would never let you get away with that. He'd bolt the door or something."

"Well, neither was I planning on letting Dryden know about where I was going, nor do I need to use any doors," he stated with a nonchalance that left her gaping.

"Then how..." she trailed off when it finally dawned on her and her eyes wandered to Van's right shoulder, looking through it, imagining. "You were planning to –"

The end of the sentence got lost in a gasp when his wings suddenly burst from his back, a shining white exploding into the night. They stretched wide, tall above his head, before he folded them gracefully behind his back. Feathers rained down around them, glowing with a light of their own it seemed. Hitomi stared, her eyes wide.

It was the first time she actually saw him like that, saw the wings. She remembered only blurred images from the day she had fallen, dreamlike images that blurred even more once she tried to grasp them. They were images she had thought she had conjured with her imagination.

Her memory didn't do him justice.

She had thought she would be shocked and appalled but the only thing she felt was the urge to touch his wings, to see for herself if they were as soft as they looked. It was an unearthly beautiful image that fascinated her beyond her own understanding.

Van's lips twitched with an amused smile. "Fly? Indeed."

Her mouth opened and closed mutely a few times before she could finally utter some words. "Are you crazy?!" Hitomi exclaimed in a strangled whisper when Van turned and prepared to jump off the stone wall. "Van, wait! You can't do that! It's too dangerous."

He looked at her over his shoulder. "I don't think so. I'm too precious. He would never harm the work of decades, that I know. What a waste of money." A cynic smile twisted his lips.

Hitomi relaxed a little, her eyes twinkling. "Well then, you won't mind me coming along."

"You cannot be serious," he deadpanned and turned around.

She shrugged and her eyes darted from his face to his wings that towered over his form, marvelling at the sight. The bend was far above his head, the tips hovering above the top of the wall. "You just said that it wouldn't be dangerous."

"I..." he said, trying to rein his smile, and his lips twitched with every word when he regarded her with a look of recognition. "I said it wouldn't be dangerous for _me._"

The rain had closed around them like a veil of mist, falling soundlessly. Their words seemed to echo back at them from out of nowhere, faint and hollow. "I'm not going to be a millstone around your neck, I promise."

It wasn't what she should have said and she hoped he would be able to read it in her eyes, in the reddish tint on her cheeks and the smile she didn't smile. She wanted to accompany him, she had to accompany him, had to know where he came from so she would be able to understand him. Whatever it was she was going to see would be okay with her. Whatever it was she was going to see would not be okay with him.

"This is something I have to do alone, Hitomi." The wings that had been arched majestically over his back now drooped, the feathers misted with raindrops. Water dripped down his chin and from his fingertips. The playfulness was gone from his voice, his eyes, his posture, his everything. "This is between Dornkirk and me and I have to go on my own. Please, you have to understand."

She leaned against the wet wall, placing her hand flat on the cold stone. She was so close she could see that his dark lashes were spiked with rain. "I do. You don't have to apologize."

"Thank you." There was a slight trace of surprise in his voice and his eyes were watching her curiously, trying to figure out why she had said that. "I'd appreciate though if you didn't tell Dryden that I left. He might want to stop me or something."

"You want me to lie to him?" she exclaimed in fake indignation and stared at him, her eyes betraying her.

He gave her a disarming smile. "Just don't tell him the truth."

Hitomi shook her head slightly, knowing he didn't have to bribe her into lying for him, knowing that with this smile he could make her jump in a circle on her left leg. Maybe it was careless of her to trust him so much, to simply let go and fall but he had caught her once and she knew he would do it again. "Okay."

He held up his hand quickly when she opened her mouth to say something else. "I'm not done yet. I have another favour to ask of you."

"That depends." A grin tugged at the corners of her lips that rekindled the playful sparkle in Van's eyes and smoothed the frown that had cast shadows across his eyes. "If this is about lying again..."

"No, but could you, please, call my brother and tell him that I'm alright? He's probably worrying." The tone of his voice was so different when he spoke of his brother, so much softer and with an underlying innocent awe. He still had to get used to the fact that he had a brother. "His phone number should be on a piece of paper somewhere in between my stuff."

Hitomi studied him. She had been hoping he would take that step one day, close his eyes and stretch out his arms, allow himself to fall, knowing she was there to catch him. Could it be? Was he trusting her with all that?

No, he just had no choice. After everything that had happened he wasn't yet ready to trust again. Doubt was always there, in his hesitation, in words unspoken, in the sceptical, calculating look of his eyes. He was still a lone wolf, simply tolerating the people around him. But she could wait. She believed in him.

Hitomi nodded. "I can do that."

"Thank you." He inclined his head and meant it, a deep gratitude behind those two words. "For everything."

"You're welcome." The way he was watching her made her heart skip a beat. Searching her. Testing her. Her breath was caught in her throat and she could hear the air vibrate in anticipation. Anticipation of what?

Van turned his head away, releasing the hold he had had on her and she blinked. Air streamed back into her lungs like water down a dried out riverbed.

"Alright then, I should get going."

Hitomi watched him rise from his position on the wall and peeking over the edge, she found that it was a long way down. Her head swam for a moment. "Are you sure about that?"

A tug at the corner of his mouth. A sideways glance. A slight grinding noise when he pushed himself quickly off the wall.

She gasped and time froze.

Van seemed to be suspended in the air, his arms outstretched and his wings pressed flat against his back. A scream stuck in her throat, Hitomi had one hand clapped over her mouth, the other one clutching the wall tightly.

One heartbeat passed.

In a fluid motion, Van spread his wings and violently caught his fall. A gust of wind sent him lurching and he had to flap his wings hard a few times to regain his balance. Hitomi watched him gliding on the fog until the drizzle swallowed him. She tasted rain on her lips.

Turning back around, she headed toward the apartment to do as Van had asked of her. She left shimmering footprints in the light from the living room that was reflected on the water gathering on the balcony.

* * *

Folken stirred his coffee with an excruciating precision as if it was an art that needed to be perfected. The spoon clinked softly against the porcelain.

Apart from the steady clinking of the spoon, the apartment was unnaturally quiet. Vargas sat on the couch with his arms folded across his chest, watching Folken. He had talked for a long time and Folken had listened with a face void any expression. Vargas had told him everything he knew, feeling he owed Folken that much. He wanted Folken to know the truth, hoping that this way he could atone for what he had done to Van.

He knew he could never make it undone.

He had known he wouldn't find Van at Folken's place. It hadn't been his intention to find Van here.

"I'm sorry," Folken suddenly exclaimed and woke Vargas from his thoughts, dropping his spoon into his cold coffee. "I'm sorry, I spaced out."

"You're fine." Vargas studied Van's older brother and found the visible traces of sleepless nights around his eyes.

His worry was etched deeply into his features. He was worried about Van and he was worried about making mistakes that would hurt his brother in the end. Vargas couldn't blame him.

Folken stared at him and Vargas marvelled at the resemblance between the brothers. It was almost painful upon finding Van's penetrating look in Folken's eyes. And there were small gestures that were almost exactly the same, like waving a hand dismissively, the expression on his features when deep in thought, the way he carried himself.

"So, this genetic defect you mentioned, it kills him?" Folken was resting with his back against the counter, rubbing his aching head.

Information overload. It had been a lot that Van had told him that day he had appeared on his doorstep and Folken had hardly been able to believe it. Now, with everything Vargas had told him, everything that Van had not known, an impossible image took shape in his mind.

"It can kill him, yes." Vargas's deep voice filled the room, taking up the entire space just like his intimidating appearance. "But as long as he takes his medication he'll be fine. As soon as he stops though, or as soon as he's running out of it in this case, his body will develop an intense fever that he cannot survive."

Worry had carved deep wrinkles into Folken's forehead. "How much time is left?"

Vargas turned his head to look out of the window, the dimmed lights of the city barely visible through the drizzle. "Two days, maybe one. The calculation can never be exact; it depends on what he eats and other factors that are beyond our control at the moment."

Folken ran a hand across his face in a futile attempt to brush away the tiredness. He hadn't slept well these last days and it was getting harder to fight his drooping eyelids that were getting heavier. "And that means we cannot do anything, right?"

"Not until we find him. I've got the substance he needs but when we don't know where he is, we cannot help him." Vargas was almost too big for the couch, making it look like it belonged in a doll house.

He could feel Folken's anxiety and nervous restlessness like the static electricity bowriding the air ahead of a thunderstorm. Vargas was less worried about Van's condition, knowing there was no way Dornkirk would let any harm be done to Van. Dornkirk would find a way somehow. He had taken the compound just in case he was faster than Dornkirk in finding the boy.

"Is there any guarantee that you really want to help Van and not just want to lock him up again?" Folken's voice broke into his thinking like water through a dam, pouring into his mind and stirring up his thoughts.

Vargas turned his head and found Folken's eyes watching him darkly. "No."

Folken's features were clouded with doubt and distrust like a stormy September sky. But trust wasn't something Vargas had expected. Folken was probably blaming him, cursing him, just like his brother. And there was nothing Vargas could do about it, not anymore. He was already on his knees, begging forgiveness of the people he had wronged.

What was Folken going to do about it?

An epic battle seemed to be raging within him, one part of him not willing to trust the man who had taken his brother away from him, the other part of him not wanting to let that chance slip to get answers and help. In the end, a third party determined his decision: fatigue that was so much stronger than all his emotions combined.

"I haven't seen him in 3 days. He disappeared and the next thing I knew he was all over the news," Folken murmured. "This is such a mess."

It wasn't like Folken had any choice. And he was tired, so tired.

"Thank you for telling me all that." Vargas was surprised when Folken spoke, his voice quiet and defeated. He hadn't expected Folken to thank him. "Why did you do it?"

Vargas smiled inwardly. It wasn't like he had been completely ignorant. When he had received Dornkirk's offer to partake in the project, he had known it was breaking innumerable laws that were supposed to rein genetic research and was crossing the line of more than just a handful of ethical boundaries. But when he had accepted he had been far away from being of a sound mind and when he had realized what he had agreed to, it was too late for he already stuck right in the middle of it all and Van had stared at him with his big auburn eyes, a tiny, toothless smile hardly able to reach his chubby cheeks.

Van's parents had been far away, faceless, a medical history, a few numbers in a database. He had never thought about them, had willed himself not to think about them. It would have killed him, he knew that much. He had been a parent himself and knew what it meant to lose a child.

And now, sitting on Folken's couch and looking him into his tired, angry eyes, he couldn't find a single word to justify his actions. Words that used to pass his lips so easily, like a nursery rhyme he had heard a lifetime ago and that had imprinted itself forever into his memory, words that had become his beliefs, his soul, now failed him. It was as if those words had never existed, his lips never learned to speak them.

The phone rang and left concentric circles in the silence like a stone thrown into a calm lake. Folken turned his head tiredly and let it ring. A shrug was his reply to Vargas's raised eyebrow.

"I've been harassed by all kinds of people these days and I just don't want to tell them again that I don't want to talk to them anymore. I should've unplugged it but I was hoping Van would call..." Folken stared at the red light flashing, announcing an incoming call.

Every ring of the phone was like a blow against his bruised head, the noise reverberating from the walls and feeding on the silence. After the fifth ring the answering machine sprung to life with a click.

"You have reached Folken Fanel. Unfortunately, I'm not here at the moment. Please, leave a message, your name and number so I can call you back," he heard himself crackle from the loudspeaker. He had heard it uncountable times today. He was sick of his own voice.

A beep. Silence. Then, someone spoke up hesitantly, "Umm, hello, Mr Fanel. This is Hitomi Kanzaki. I'm a friend of Van's and well, he asked me to call you to tell you that he's alright..."

Folken's eyes narrowed and the tiredness that had covered his features like a heavy blanket was gone.

"This girl knows Van since the first day he's been outside," Vargas murmured, drowning Hitomi's voice for a moment and Folken watched him intensely.

"If you wish to contact him..."

With a few long strides Folken had covered the distance to the telephone and picked up the receiver. "Miss Kanzaki?"

In Dryden's apartment Hitomi started at the unexpected voice and almost dropped the phone. She sat in the room Van had occupied, the contents of his backpack strewn about her feet.

"Miss Kanzaki?"

With a sigh, she let her head drop against the bed that was her backrest. "I'm still here."

"Miss Kanzaki, where is my brother at the moment? May I speak with him?" Folken insisted, tightening his grip around the receiver so that it cracked quietly, moaning in protest.

Fear ran like ice water through his veins. He didn't want to lose his brother after just getting him back.

"I'm sorry, he's not here," Hitomi replied hesitantly, not knowing how much she could tell him, not knowing how much Van wanted her to tell his brother.

Out of the corners of his eyes, Folken saw Vargas rising from the couch, joining his side. "Listen, this is important. He's going to develop a fever very soon and he'll need medication..."

Her voice was low and quiet when she spoke, not wanting Dryden and Millerna to hear her. "I don't think this will be necessary anymore. The fever seized him yesterday and..."

"What?" Folken choked and his hands started shaking. He stood in a pool of Vargas's huge, grey shadow. "Is he okay?"

Folken had grabbed the pen that had been resting beside the phone and quickly scribbled a few words so Vargas knew what was going on. _fever yesterday_

Van's room was dimly lit by the tiny lamp on the nightstand. Rain drummed quietly against the window, myriads of raindrops sparkling like stars on the glass. "Yeah, he's fine. He got the medication on time."

With just a few words she was able to take a heavy load off his mind and he sighed. The pen scratched over the paper. _medication on time_

The scar across his left eyes folded like paper when Vargas narrowed his eyes. "Who?" he asked Folken quietly, placing his big index finger under the word _medication_.

Folken gave Vargas a quick, calculating sideways glance and addressed Hitomi again, "Where did he get the medication from?"

Hitomi glanced up at the closed door, a slim strip of yellow light visible at the bottom. "His name is Dryden Fassa. We're at his place actually."

_Dryden Fassa_

Vargas's bushy brows rose quickly in utter surprise, his eyes wide. Fassa's boy? He had known that there was something up with him – he was too ambitious, too careless and too smart for his own good – but he would have never thought that Dryden would actually sabotage his father's business.

"Thank you." Vargas snapped out of his thoughts when Folken hung up and placed the receiver back on the small table, a determined expression on his features.

Folken quickly went to the counter and finished his coffee in one big gulp. The mixture of caffeine and the adrenaline that was running fast and warm to his fingertips would keep him going for just a little while longer. All they had to do was getting to that address he had just been given.

The keys jingled when he took them from a small plate on the counter. He looked at Vargas who stood by the phone like a statue carved in stone.

"We'll go see Van now."

* * *

The clouds were still hanging low, tired, creating a fog that was crawling slowly along the streets. He could feel it tickle over his skin, moist and cool. It was thick and muffled the sounds from the street below, creating a silence that seemed to suck him in. The only noise he could hear were his wings beating softly against the heavy air and his own breathing. But even these noises seemed to come from far away.

The light from the windows that hemmed his way was hardly able to cut through the fog, a dim glow accompanying him. He couldn't see very far and was almost blindly groping his way through the labyrinth of multi-story buildings. He could barely see them when they blocked his way, etching against the fog like shadows, towering above him like giants. It felt as if he was flying through a dream, the world around him blurred.

He almost didn't recognize the Dornkirk Inc. Tower when it suddenly appeared in front of him. There was no light beyond the windows, the dark silhouette hiding in fog.

Descending into a narrow alley, his wings stirred a slightly wet newspaper, waking it from its slumber. The water on the asphalt rippled around him when he flapped his wings quickly to land. He was suspended in the air for a second and the moment his feet softly touched the ground his wings disappeared in a silent storm of feathers. They whirled around him, dancing and twirling on their way down.

Van nimbly caught one of his feathers and held it in his hand, inspecting it. It was moist but soft, lying weightlessly in his palm. Like all the other feathers that were covering the ground like a carpet it glowed brightly.

He let it fall to the ground where it gently landed on the surface of a small puddle, causing the slightest of stirs before it rested weightlessly on the water. Rain dripped from the steps of a fire escape ladder beside him, the noise clear in the clean air. Leaving the alley, he stepped on a sidewalk that hemmed a four lane street, cars roaring past, their headlights piercing through the night. Water splashed under their tires.

He had taken Dryden's access card, hoping that Dryden's special status would help him but when he approached the glass doors of the foyer he found that he wouldn't need it. A watchman unlocked the entrance when he spotted Van. The door swung quietly open to the inside, reflecting the night.

"He's expecting you. 38th floor." Van's fists clenched at his sides at the words of the watchman and he wordlessly passed him by. He had expected Dornkirk would know he would return but it still fed the anger that grew inside him.

The foyer was dimly lit and he spotted the elevators to the right of the reception desk. His shoes left wet footprints and hollow noises in his wake when he crossed the foyer. Determination was written all across his features and he punched the button of the elevator without hesitating.

The doors immediately opened and he stepped in. There was no turning back, there never had been. He willed himself not to think about it, not to memorize the questions in his mind, not to expect anything. He didn't want Dornkirk to read his mind by just a look at his face. He had always hated that he couldn't control his emotions.

He found Dornkirk in his office. The old man was hunched behind his desk, a single lamp casting more shadows across his features than light. His grey hair was curling around his ears and fell past his shoulders, his long beard disappearing under the desk. He looked old and feeble, thin, his deeply wrinkled cheeks hollow.

There, folded behind his desk he looked like the shadow of a man, the fragile reflection of a life, barely able to stay alive and yet clinging to life with all the strength his withered muscles allowed, with all the strength that was left in bony fingers. The image sent anger surging through Van's body, burning under his skin.

He was not going to allow a dying man to determine his life.

"So," Dornkirk rasped and looked up from his papers, his eyes fixing Van. His eyes were the only thing that proved he was still alive. They were clear and shining with a disturbing fire. "I was expecting you."

"Of course you were," Van ground out and crossed his arms in front of his chest when he stepped closer. "You knew the little puppy was going to return home eventually, they all do."

"So angry. You've always been so angry." Dornkirk closed the files he had been reading and folded his wrinkled hands, his skin like parchment. It seemed as if it would turn into dust when being touched, a spidery net of purple veins visible underneath.

The room he was wilting away in was empty like shell, portraying nothing about its inhabitant. There was nothing on the walls, nothing on the desk, he couldn't even smell anything. If the room had not been occupied for a while the air would at least smell old and stale but it was as if there wasn't any air to smell at all.

The room was so empty that there was an echo accompanying every word.

"Don't I have every reason to be?"

The ghost of a smile passed Dornkirk's lips, telling Van that the reply was expected, telling Van he was going to lose this argument. "I've always been good to you. I treated you well and granted you everything. Isn't that so, Van? I always did the best for you and you still hate me. One could think you ungrateful."

Van ground his teeth audibly. The argument was weak and insignificant, ridiculous in comparison to the bigger context of Dornkirk's work, of his motivation. It was like calling a fully-grown hurricane a slight breeze. However, by just looking at the argument itself, by ignoring the context, Dornkirk was right. It was paradoxical but it was true and Van resented the fact that words could be twisted so much, resented the fact that language was so ambiguous.

Dornkirk had granted Van a normal childhood considering the circumstances. It was sadly ironic that the lab had been normal, that until the moment he had found out everything was a lie he had felt normal. The moment he had set foot outside the lab everything had turned upside down, everything had suddenly been so complicated.

He didn't know what to say.

Dornkirk chuckled and it sounded hollow, like a battered soda can, bouncing off the walls again and again. "Trust is the biggest weakness of man. Trust has seen the lives of great men end, trust has seen imperia fall, trust has seen unspeakable amounts of money go to waste. Depending on others and being disappointed. Nothing hurts as much as betrayal does."

Van's eyes narrowed and in the dim twilight of the room they glimmered like ambers in the ashes. Anger was hotly surging through him, flushing his cheeks and turning his knuckles white. Dornkirk knew exactly why Van had come to the lab and was now playing with him. Because he could. "What is this game?"

"It's not a game, Van. You don't play with life." A smile tugged at the corners of Dornkirks lips, a sardonic smile. More wrinkles appeared around his mouth. He leaned back in his chair and his clothes rustled, the slightest of stirs in the silence.

Van snorted, hearing the utter disrespect that involuntarily sounded with those words coming from his mouth. Dornkirk was mocking him, knowing that Van's hands were tied. It hadn't been necessary to force him to come back, he had returned on his own accord, virtually begging on his knees. Van hated himself for it but at that moment, the desire to know was by far surpassing his pride.

"Why?"

The old man tilted his head slightly to the side. "Why what?"

He waved a hand harshly, including everything. "Why built this huge lab to keep me hidden for so long only to set the media on me then and have the entire world find out about me? Why did you let me go?"

"I let you go?" Another unnecessary question and both of them knew it. The amusement that was laced with the sentence was fuel to the fire raging inside Van.

"I wouldn't have come if I had known you were dying to get me back." Van hesitated, the words heavy and bitter in his mouth. The truth left a disgusting taste on his lips. "I wouldn't have been able to leave if you hadn't wanted me to."

"You're very perceptive, Van. You always have been." Dornkirk nodded in appreciation and rose from his seat.

"I wouldn't have wanted to leave the lab if I hadn't known about the world beyond it. You let me use the TV and internet and everything that was a connection. If I hadn't known all that, I would have never even had the desire to flee..." Van trailed off, biting his lip. Dornkirk knew all that, no need to explain it, no need to expose his feelings any more, no need to further strip his soul. He felt vulnerable enough.

Dornkirk's movements were slow and fragile and Van was surprised at how old he seemed when he lifted his bony body out of the chair. "Does it hurt? Does it hurt your pride to know that you could only run away, that you could stay away, that everything you did you could do because I wanted you to?"

Van's arms unfolded and his fingers immediately curled at his sides, his body so tense it was about to snap. He was hardly able to stop himself from lunging at the old man but he knew that this was Dornkirk's intention, he knew Dornkirk was playing with his mind.

It did hurt. The pain was tearing him apart inside but he would rather bite his tongue until he bled than admit it. It hurt that Dornkirk was right, it hurt knowing that no matter what he did, he would follow the old man's plan, it hurt that he had once trusted him with his life, it hurt that Dornkirk was doing this to him now.

He wanted to hate Dornkirk more than anything else, he wanted to hate himself for allowing all that to happen but the pain numbed him to the core, drowning every other feeling, even his hatred. The emptiness inside him was boundless and he knew he was leaving everything behind now, giving up on everything he had believed in, everything he had once trusted, everything that was his childhood.

It was when he noticed that he had hoped he could still save something of the Dornkirk he had believed to know. He had never particularly liked the old man but he had fostered some respect He had wanted something back, something that reminded him of where he came from. But there was nothing worth the pain. Never had he given up on anything before and it wasn't that he couldn't keep on trying, he just didn't want to anymore. He was tired of it.

Van could feel the back of his eyes prick and he blinked quickly, swallowing hard.

Dornkirk laughed, mocking him, and turned to look out of the window. Thick fog was blurring the view and Van could see Dornkirk's reflection in the glass. "Do you want to hurt me?" he chuckled but it couldn't reach Van anymore. The words that had stung so badly now withered before they could harm him. They were weak. Pitiful.

"I did it because there is always the time when you have to let your children go," Dornkirk continued and looked at Van in the glass.

The silence was deafening for there was nothing to break it. The room itself was not breathing, no noise audible and when Van spoke his words echoed like gunshots in a forest. "I am not your child."

"You are. Van, you are." He could see the reflection of Dornkirk's smile and wanted to smash the glass, break his smile and send a thousand shards tumbling to the ground. "You might not see it like that but to me you are my life, all my efforts, my money, my time, my research, all for you."

Van's eyes narrowed. "Why?"

This was why he had come to see Dornkirk. He wanted the answer to this exact question. Why did he start this experiment in the first place? Why would a man sacrifice his life for something like that?

"Why." Dornkirk linked his arms behind his back and crossed the room with slow steps, watching Van. "Because I wanted to make my dream come true. You are this dream in flesh and blood.

"It started as a bet, an impossible idea. A few friends plus a few too many beers on a Friday night in college equal the best ideas. They wanted to change the world, make it better." He chuckled. "I wanted to create my own world.

"Back then, nobody could see what would be possible with genetic engineering in only a few years but we believed so strongly. Patience has gotten me a long way. It took me years to get the money to start the lab, years for the research, years for a successful insemination, years for an actual birth, years to grow my precious creature. Seeing you standing here, mad at me, makes me so happy because I know it was worth it, everything was worth it."

Van stared at Dornkirk and he could feel himself losing control over his features. "A bet?" he muttered in disbelief and Dornkirk simply nodded. "To prove what?"

"Not to prove, Van. To create." Dornkirk's purple eyes glowed when he spoke and for the first time his voice rose, showing actual emotion. Passion. Madness. The line separating them had long blurred. "You are my creation, Van, my new species. You are part of my world, my improved world, my ideal world with my perfect beings; my Gaea!"

"You played God," Van spat, his words laced tightly with disgust. The emotion was so strong it almost corded up his throat. "How dare you play with people's lives to satisfy your desire? What about the people that suffered because of you? What about the lives you destroyed?"

"There are always sacrifices," Dornkirk replied quietly. "What must be done must be done."

Van was breathing hard and his fists were shaking at his sides. "This is wrong!"

The old man gave a laugh. "Who says that? You? Pursuing perfection is wrong? It is the motivation of life! Only the strongest survive, the best adapted and the ones that strive for perfection. There would be nothing, no improvement, no progress without this motivation to attain perfection one day! "

"I'm far from being perfect," Van snorted and averted his eyes.

This wasn't what he had expected. He hadn't known the exact motivation behind Dornkirk's actions and he wished Dornkirk had never told him. To find that he was nothing but Dornkirk's toy, to find that he had nothing but trophy value for the old man wasn't exactly what he had come for.

He didn't know what he had wanted to hear and he didn't want to foster that thought, afraid of the consequences resulting from emotional attachment of any kind. It wasn't worth it.

The irregular grey pattern of the carpet blurred in front of his eyes. "Are there more like me?"

Dornkirk didn't reply right away and all Van heard was his own blood roaring in his ears. He had even stopped breathing and he knew Dornkirk could read the emotions displayed on his face like an open book.

His heart thumped heavily in his chest, in his neck, in his wrist. He had never considered it before, had never even thought about it before. What if...

"No, just one...for now," he finally answered and Van couldn't say if he felt relieved or disappointed. "Creating one was difficult enough. Have you ever wondered about your number? 0175 is not a random number we picked."

Van had the vague feeling that he didn't want to know. He shook his head, not knowing if it was in a reply to the question or to ask Dornkirk not to continue.

"174 failed attempts until our first success, not counting the innumerable failed attempts of artificial inseminations that didn't even get the egg to nest. 175 embryos grew past the 16-cells stage, twenty of them made it past the seventh month, five were born, only one of them alive. And that is you." Dornkirk's eyes were glowing with life and passion that his body wasn't able to carry anymore.

Van stared, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly agape. He couldn't believe what Dornkirk had just told him, couldn't believe the pride he seemed to feel at his accomplishment. He had murdered all these unborn children, he accepted their deaths like he would accept a petri dish breaking during an experiment. Collateral damage.

"And one is all I needed for it is in your genes, your perfection is in your genes and you will pass it on to your children and they will pass it on to their children. There will be more of my new species. Patience is all I need."

Running his hands across his face, Van shook his head and murmured to himself. "This is insane."

"Do you feel better now?" Dornkirk asked and Van lifted his gaze to look at him. "Now that you know why you have been created? This is why you came here, isn't it? The purpose, why you are in this world?"

It had been his reason to come see Dornkirk. He had wanted to know why Dornkirk had kept him in the golden cage and then just let him fly away. He had wanted to know why Dornkirk had started this insane project in the first place. He had hoped the answers would help him find his place in this world, had hoped they would make him feel less restless.

It _had been_ his reason.

Van now knew he had come back to the lab to smother the last bit of doubt within him that there was something that held him there, to come to terms with what he was, to find that he did not owe Dornkirk anything.

"Do you want me to thank you for _creating_ me? For making me this?" Van stretched out his arms when he spoke but his voice was calm.

"Don't tell me you don't enjoy it." Dornkirk smiled. "Flying. Being weightless. Being free. To be able to fly, the oldest dream of mankind.

"Once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." Dornkirk chuckled at Van's utterly shocked expression, knowing that the words had struck a dark, far away corner of Van's soul, a place he wished did not exist.

"Leonardo Da Vinci, very smart man. He knew what he was talking about, wouldn't you agree?" A satisfied smile played around the old man's wrinkled lips when he saw anger spark like fire in Van's eyes, quick and violent. "I kind of envy you, my boy."

Van knew that he didn't owe Dornkirk anything, that it wasn't his fault, that he didn't have a choice but still, the guilt would remain. Everytime he would fly, he would enjoy it. Everytime he would enjoy it he would feel guilty. It was something he had to live with. It was like a scar that would forever be there but fade ever so slowly with time.

"What keeps me from killing myself?"

A loud laugh broke from Dornkirk's lips and Van drew his brows together. It annoyed him that Dornkirk treated him like a child.

"Fear and love," he replied and his eyes sparkled knowingly. "Fear of death and the love for life. And stubbornness. Because you want to prove that I do not determine your life."

Van ran a hand through his tousled and still damp hair. "But by going out into the world I do exactly that, follow your plans for me."

"Indeed." Dornkirk smirked. "Ironic, isn't it?"

Raindrops started to batter against the windows, the noise of the water hitting the asphalt lost in the depths of the gorge between the buildings.

"Yes, it is, just like revealing me means revealing you." Van watched him carefully, trying to detect something in the labyrinth of wrinkles on Dornkirk's face. He needed something to determine what Dornkirk was thinking, to predict his reply like he seemed to predict every single one of Van's words. "As far as I know the genetic manipulation of the human genome is still a violation of law. You'll be persecuted."

"Will I? Oh, Van." Dornkirk walked to the window again where innumerable drops of water were reflecting the light from the room. "Tell them about me, about the lab that is supposedly hidden beneath this very law-abiding pharmacy firm. I promise you they're not going to find a thing."

Dornkirk cast a glance at Van over his shoulder. "Everything is packed up, the lab is gone, my best employees handed in their notice as I expected them to do. Go down there and see for yourself if you don't believe me."

After the silence the sound of the rain was almost painful, raindrops hitting the glass as if they were trying to smash it. "You planned this," Van breathed.

"Of course, Van. You cannot leave a project like this to chance." Dornkirk looked out of the window again. "Although I have to admit I had to initiate the final stage sooner than planned due to the unforeseeable actions of Dryden Fassa."

Van had lost this battle and he would lose every one to come. Dornkirk could not be defeated, he had always known that.

"Project Gaea is finalized." The old man's words were almost drowned by the rain, hardly reaching Van's ear. They were not meant for him.

He stared at Dornkirk's back. There was nothing else to say. He wished there was something, he wanted to yell, he wanted to be angry but he could do nothing but swallow words that could not be spoken. Reluctantly, he turned around and left the old man in his room.

The sound of his footsteps followed him down the hallway, leaving only rain.

* * *

The city was still half asleep when the first rays of sunlight stretched their golden fingers across the roof tops. The clouds had wrung themselves dry during the night and were now being torn apart by the wind. It had cooled down just slightly, the humidity that was hovering above the ground promising this to be an unbearable day.

The view that spread out at his feet was breath-taking. Innumerable multi-story buildings reached for the clouds, covering a huge area that seemed to extend to the horizon. Their windows reflected the morning sky, a sparkling mirror of light. In between, the pointed tops of old churches peeked out, old facades hiding behind steel and glass, past and future co-existing in the same place.

In the heart of the financial district of the city, surrounded by the tallest buildings, the river parted around an island. The buildings inhabiting this island had seen the rise and fall of kings and queens, had seen wars raging, had seen the sky in flames when the city was burning to ashes, had seen it being rebuilt from debris, had seen the dawn of democracy and its growth. The stones contained the history of centuries and stood silent by the river bank.

Van sat at the feet of the larger than life statue of a female angel, one of six that hemmed the copper vault of a dome that guarded the bones of emperors. They were resting in a crypt below the ground, pressing their secrets tightly against their chests. The vault and the statues had turned green during the years, the colour running like tears down the surface.

The night had passed without Van closing an eye, too many thoughts swirling through his mind like leaves in an autumn storm. He had hoped his conversation with Dornkirk would answer his questions and in a way it had but Van still wasn't satisfied. He felt restless but unable to move, forces pulling or pushing him in every which direction. Helpless. Afloat, neither swimming nor drowning. He felt like driftwood.

The sun rose above the rooftops and a few rays found their way through a gorge between dozens of buildings, blinding Van and warming his skin.

He knew why he was feeling like this. He wanted this chase to end, he wanted to stop running away, stop hiding, he wanted to walk the streets and not be stared at, he wanted to be normal, he wanted exactly what Dornkirk had planned for him. By doing just that, by merging into normality, he was involuntarily contributing to the success of the project.

After everything that happened, he didn't want to support Dornkirk and fulfil his last wish. Dornkirk didn't deserve it. Van wanted to destroy the project but knew it was too late. The lab had been packed up and no matter what he said, nobody would be able to trace Dornkirk's magnum opus.

The guilt would follow him all his life like an ever-persistent shadow, day and night. Guilt because he was acting according to plan. And yet he knew he deserved normality.

His arm rested on his propped up knee and he flexed his fingers. He could smell the damp grass below, fresh and warm and alive. Van had already made his decision when he had met Dornkirk, he knew that. Maybe the hesitation was old defiance, the old reflex to rebel against Dornkirk, to not do what Dornkirk wanted him to.

Rising swiftly, he looked up at the bronze angel, a warm breeze ruffling his hair with gentle fingers. He knew he could spend an entire day just thinking, twisting and turning the thoughts in his head until he was contradicting himself. It wouldn't help him.

Maybe his hesitation to put through what he thought was the best way was fear of what was waiting beyond that decision, the consequences that would follow involuntarily. He didn't know what was going to happen and he would never find out if he did not take that step.

He didn't even have to concentrate. His wings broke powerfully from his back, brightly unfolding into the morning sky and casting a long shadow across the statue behind him. Bronze eyes watched when he noiselessly leaped off the pedestal.

The city was gliding by underneath him and the wind that carried him softly raked its hands through his feathers, leaving the fragrance of wet earth stuck to them like raindrops. He easily found the apartment complex where Dryden lived, his reflection following him like a shadow across the windows that hemmed his way. He didn't care if anybody saw him, it didn't matter anymore, it had never mattered at all.

The door to the living room was still open, the curtains swaying in the morning breeze. Landing skilfully, he headed toward the apartment, leaving behind his wings in a swirl of feathers.

As soon as he entered the room he spotted Hitomi who was curled up on the couch, a blanket covering her. It smelled strongly of cold coffee.

"So, His Pigheadedness has deigned to grace us with his presence."

Van's head snapped up at Dryden's voice. He sat calmly at the dining table, his notebook humming quietly in front of him, the light from the screen reflected in his glasses when he looked up. Folken and Vargas were with him, their eyes trained on Van.

"Van, are you okay?" Folken asked carefully and rose from his seat, making his way slowly to where Van was standing.

Van nodded at him and felt a pleasant warmth pool in his stomach at the concern he heard in Folken's voice. His lips parted in a gasp when his brother did not stop in front of him but engulfed him in a tight embrace. They had not hugged before but had rather gone by awkward nods of the head. Van couldn't remember the last time he had been hugged like that, couldn't remember if he had ever been hugged with such fierceness. He didn't know what to do but he felt strangely comfortable, it was a powerful feeling.

Folken pulled away before Van decided to return the embrace. "I'm glad."

Van smiled hesitantly up at his brother before his eyes involuntarily turned back to Vargas. A storm of memories was raging through his mind but it didn't hurt as it used to, the scars thick enough not to tear open when being softly touched. He wasn't surprised, he wasn't angry, he was tired.

"Have you found what you have been searching for?" Vargas spoke quietly but his voice was too deep to allow anything even distantly related to a whisper.

Van felt himself involuntarily relax at the sound. It was something familiar, something he had been used to his entire life. Relief. No explanation necessary as to where he had been these last eight hours. No justification. No excuses. Just understanding.

Vargas had known him since he had come to the lab, he was probably the only one who could relate to some extent to what Van was going through. Van knew if he was ready, he wouldn't need to explain anything to Vargas, he wouldn't need to yell, wouldn't need to show all of his anger. Vargas knew all that. Van would only have to listen and he was grateful for that.

"No," he answered, trying to put at least some resistance into his voice, trying to show that Vargas wasn't forgiven, yet accepted for now. A light yet very perceptible pressure on his right shoulder indicated that Folken's hand had come to rest there, offering warmth and support without being asked for it. "But it's okay."

Dryden shuffled through a stack of papers and then lifted his tall frame from his chair. With a few swift steps he had reached Van and held out his hand, palm up. "Terrific. May I have my ID then?"

Van's eyes flickered for a moment before he noticed the corner of Dryden's lips twitch. Reaching into the pocket of his pants, he fished out the card and handed it back. "Thanks, Dryden. I didn't need it though."

"Well, you're welcome," Dryden replied airily and waved his ID. "In case of urgent need just steal whatever you desire."

"I borrowed it." Van's voice was matter of fact but his light grin betrayed him.

The twinkle in Dryden's eyes told him that he would have done just the same. It was almost like he was proud of Van. "Same difference."

Van exhaled a smile and out of the corner of his eyes he saw Hitomi stir on the couch. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and the blanket slid from her shoulders. The shirt beneath was crumpled.

"Van...?" Hitomi mumbled and shielded her eyes against the glaring light from the lamp right beside the couch. There were deep wrinkles on her cheek where she had lain on the pillow.

"Morning, Hitomi." Van's voice was soft when he strode to the couch and sat down at Hitomi's feet, the cushion dipping slightly under his weight. He hadn't noticed just how tired he was until he could feel his energy quickly draining from him, soaking into the couch.

Hitomi blinked and looked around, running a hand through her messed up hair. "What's the time? When did you get back?"

Resting with his elbows on his knees, Van turned his wrist slightly to check his watch. "It's 6:50 and I got back a few minutes ago."

"I didn't want to fall asleep." She drew her legs up and folded them against her form, running a hand over her face. Hitomi was still waking up. "Dryden, you were supposed to _not_ let me fall asleep."

"Of course," Dryden chuckled and placed his mug in the espresso machine. A faint beep and the machine started gurgling and sputtering. "But even a foghorn couldn't have woken you up."

Hitomi glared at him before she turned to look at Van beside her. "I'm sorry, Van, I wanted to wait."

"It's okay." He was looking sideways at her, his eyes smiling from between strands of dark hair. "Thanks for calling my brother and thanks for getting him here."

"Well, that wasn't so much my doing since he insisted to come over." Her face fell and she looked at Folken and Vargas who were leaning over Dryden's notebook, Vargas's huge hand pointing vehemently at something on the screen. "I didn't know if that was okay and I didn't know how much to tell him and I surely didn't know that Vargas was with him. I'm sorry, Van. I swear to my toe socks that I wouldn't have let him – "

"It's okay," he interrupted her softly and the corners of his lips turned towards his eyes. It was a smile she hadn't seen often these last days. It was easy, genuine and grateful. It was a gift. It was like the sun breaking through the clouds, warming her skin. "Really. Thank you."

A breeze ruffled the curtains and covered Hitomi's arms with goosebumps, smelling of fallen rain. She relaxed, rubbing her arms. "You're welcome. How did it go?"

He turned away, staring at the glass table in front of him where he could see traces of a spilled drink. The newspaper had shrunken into a crumpled heap where the liquid had touched it. "I guess it went alright."

His hand was warm and soft when she touched it gently with hers, giving it a light squeeze. Van took her hand in both of his, cupping it there like something precious, and looked up at her. There was the faintest of blushes on her cheeks. "I got my answers. It wasn't what I had expected but I think it was exactly what I needed."

There was something about him now that told her he was okay, something in his voice and in his posture. The restlessness that had worn him out like a protracted disease was gone, the resentment that had been laced with his words whenever he spoke of the lab had disappeared. He seemed calm and satisfied with something only he knew.

Hitomi had leaned closer to reach out to him, leaning on one warm while he was still holding her other hand. "What now?"

"That is a very good question indeed, Hitomi." Both of them looked up at Dryden whose determined expression echoed his words. He held his mug in one hand, espresso that had spilled over the rim leaving a faint brown trail down the side of it. "And it's nice that we have that little family reunion thing going on right now, apart from Millerna, of course, who is snoring her cute little head off. Lots of people mean lots of input."

Dryden took a sip of his coffee and the steam fogged up his glasses. "If you want to hear what I'd do...I say we go public and take down Dornkirk Inc."

"Dryden..." Millerna's soft voice wafted into the room, no more than a whisper and yet the warning that reverberated with that one word seemed ever so present. She stood in the doorway, arms crossed in front of her chest.

"No, Millerna, that man deserves to be punished for what he did." Dryden had turned to meet her angry eyes and his stance was calm and controlled, only a hard line around his mouth and a cold gleam in his eyes showing that he was not going to back down. "He needs to be held responsible for it. You just can't go running around, manipulating people's DNA, breaking laws and get away with it. Would you let a murderer get away without a proper trial?"

Something blazed in Millerna's eyes. "He's not..."

Dryden's eyebrows rose when Millerna faltered mid-sentence. Even after they had talked the entire night, even after she had told him about Marlene, that old way of thinking was still there. She was still trying to protect Dornkirk. And with a grim satisfaction, he noticed that she started to fail at it.

"I thought you had changed your mind," she said quietly without looking at him.

"Changed my mind?" Dryden gave a laugh and pushed his glasses up his nose. "No, I just found that I had had to set my priorities straight. I'm still seeing to it that my father gets what he deserves."

Millerna's eyes shimmered with frustration and she refused to look at Dryden, a silent storm raging within her. It was so easy for him to detach himself from his father, to go about and ruin his father's business. He would not feel guilty because he was convinced he was right.

She could not let go so easily. Dornkirk had been everything she had believed in and losing him was like losing the ground underneath her feet. There was nothing she could stand on now. Somehow she felt like she owed Dornkirk and by stabbing him in the back she was hurting herself as well as if the blade she had used broke and came hurling back at her. Cause and effect. It was that easy.

But Dryden couldn't see that, didn't want to see it and that was his biggest flaw. He didn't let it get to him and she wished he would hurt at least just once in his life.

"It doesn't matter. It won't be possible anyway," Van said into the silence and Dryden raised a sceptical brow. "There's nothing to prove whatever you're going to say. The lab is gone. Dornkirk told me they had removed it."

"What?!" Vargas exclaimed in a booming voice, turning in his chair.

Van nodded, still holding Hitomi's hand. "He said the project was finalized and there was no need for the lab here anymore. You should know, Vargas."

Vargas was staring at him but it was more like he was staring through Van, his eyes unfocused. "No. I quit my job some days ago and haven't been there since. I never knew everything. I know all about what has been, about the history of it all, of you. I don't know where Dornkirk planned to go with it."

"Did he tell you? Did you ask?" Dryden interfered, addressing Van.

"The final stage, if you want to call it that, is setting me free," Van confirmed with a snort. "How noble."

"I never knew either," Millerna ran a hand through her curls that were slightly dishevelled from sleeping. "I don't think he ever told anyone. It makes perfect sense though."

Dryden set down his mug on the counter, watching the last bit of coffee swish at the bottom of it. "It does. He can disappear without the two of you being in his way. It's ironic that he didn't tell the two people he probably trusted most."

"It's ironic that now that Van actually can do whatever he wants to do we don't know what to do." Folken was leaning back in his chair, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He watched Dryden who regarded him with a nod of his head. "What would be the most sensible thing to do?"

"The most sensible thing would be leaving this place to live as a hermit on some lonely island." Millerna rolled her eyes at Dryden's words and the smirk that tugged at his lips. "It would, however, not be the smartest thing to do."

"Of course, we all know what you consider is a smart idea," Millerna retorted dryly and flicked her mane over her shoulder. "But I don't think Van would like you to use him to get back at your father."

Dryden regarded her with an appraising look but didn't succeed in hiding his pained expression completely. So she knew about his former intentions, didn't trust him enough though to believe him that it wasn't his first priority.

"I never said I was going to use him. My father's business going down is merely an appreciated by-product. I –- "

"It doesn't matter now, does it?" Vargas interrupted Dryden gruffly and raised his huge hand to silence Millerna who had just opened her mouth to protest. "Your bickering is not getting us anywhere right now so stop it, will you?"

Millerna felt the childish urge to point a finger at Dryden and tell Vargas that he had started it but refrained from doing so. The dark cloud hovering above Vargas's head was evidence enough that he didn't feel like joking.

He was probably right. As much as she wished that the tension clogging up the room and taking every space to move could be broken by a few light words, she knew it wouldn't really help to solve the situation. "What do you think we should do then, Vargas?"

"I don't know," he replied earnestly and lifted his broad shoulders. "I kind of prefer the idea of hiding but it isn't my place to decide that..."

Van was oblivious to the fact that everyone in the room was looking at him, waiting for an answer, a decision. He seemed to be lost in thoughts, his eyes focused on a point somewhere outside this world.

Hitomi smiled and nudged him slightly to get his attention, making him snap out of it. "What do you want to do, Van?"

It was easy, he knew now. It wasn't a life-altering revelation like he had first thought, wasn't the purpose he had thought he needed to hear from Dornkirk. It was simple, so simple he hadn't seen it right in front of him all this time. He wanted what he had always wanted, what he had thought he had had all his life: normalcy.

"I want to walk down the street without being stared at. I want to go to college. I'm sick of running away, sick of hiding." No hesitation. No insecurity. His voice was calm and firm, without any traitorous shaking and doubtful vibrating. "Dornkirk wins."

"A wise decision but it's not going to be easy, Van. People won't be as understanding and accepting as we are for we already knew about you. The people in the lab knew about your little special feature, they were used to it." Dryden waved at him and tried to imitate a flapping motion with his hands. "The only exception is family and people who are so obviously smitten with you."

Hitomi's heart plummeted to the bottom of her stomach and heat crawled up her neck, reaching with warm fingers for her cheeks. Dryden's blatant statement left her pulse hammering and she tried to stop herself from looking at Van but failed. She caught his lips twitching briefly.

Dryden grinned and leaned slightly forward. "My point is that people who aren't involved with the project are going to have a problem with you. We're a very curious and sensationalistic kind of species, Van."

He knew that nothing would be normal for a while, knew that people would want to take him apart trying to find out what he was, where he came from. He had discarded the naïve idea of walking out into the public without being noticed. He knew people would stare at him, point at him, whisper behind his back and he knew that eventually they would stop. It would take a while though but he had to take this step back to leap ahead.

"I guess I'll be fine."

* * *

**A/N: **So okay, I lied. This is NOT the last chapter...okay, maybe it is but there's still the epilogue to come! I'm almost done with it though, so I think it's safe to say that I won't take half a year to finish it ::cackles:: This is it, people, my baby of more than 4 years is almost done ::sniffles and rubs tears away:: I cannot believe it but I'll wait till the epilogue to bawl my eyes out. And I have to say after quite a struggle with that chapter I'm pretty satisfied with its outcome and that of the whole story. Yes yes. :)

And before I forget again, that last line with the taking a step back to leap ahead is actually from a facebook fortune cookie ::bursts out laughing:: Thumbs up to whoever came up with that.

Thanks a lot again to everybody who reviewed! I appreciate it, really really ::grins::

Happy reading,

Dariel


	18. Epilogue

Epilogue

* * *

She was almost surprised at how fast her life had resumed to be normal again. In most aspects. 

The door to the _Shiroi Ryuu_ closed softly behind her when she stepped out on the sidewalk and inhaled deeply, the cold air pricking her nose and lungs. It smelled of cars, decaying leaves and the promise of the first snow. It was in the wintry breeze that sauntered along the street, in the shiver of bare branches and in the color of the clouds.

Hitomi pulled her scarf tighter to protect her skin from the cold and scanned the sidewalk for a certain face in the crowd. Her eyes skipped over unfamiliar jackets and scarves and it seemed as if all the colors had disappeared with the last fallen leaves, the city now a mere blur of grey and brown.

And then her features softened. Beyond the late Saturday afternoon bustle she spotted Van leaning comfortably against the pole of a streetlamp. He looked relaxed and at ease with himself, radiating a confidence he had not possessed when she had met him the first time.

As if feeling her eyes on him, he looked up. He found her watching him from where she stood in front of the entrance to the restaurant, people drifting past her like leaves in an autumn storm. The corners of his lips turned upwards in a lazy smile that stirred a flock of butterflies in her stomach. It was a feeling of pleasant restlessness as if she was about to start a long journey, the feeling of two cups of deep black coffee in her system, the feeling of silly smiles and the urge to say stupid things.

She knew she was blushing slightly and hid her smile in the folds of her scarf, not completely in control of the way he affected her. She didn't need the control though. She liked the feeling as it was.

Above her head, crows wailed against the grey November sky when she approached him. The newspaper he held in his hands caught her attention and her eyes skimmed the front page.

_Still no trace of the experiment's originators – No decline in debates on ethical responsibility_

"I can't believe you're still adorning the front pages of every major newspaper. I mean, it's been more than three months since you went public and people are still not getting tired of you." Her words formed a white cloud in front of her mouth and her finger poked Van's eye in the colored photograph when she pointed at the article.

He shrugged and folded the newspaper. "They just love Angel Boy, they can't help it."

Grinning, Hitomi leaned over to cover the distance between them and kissed the smile that was stretching his cold lips.

"Hello to you, too," he said quietly when she pulled away and his eyes danced with laughter. His smile was like finding 30 bucks in the pocket of last year's winter jacket. "How does it feel to kiss a celebrity?"

She poked her index finger hard into his chest but the effect was almost lost in the resistance of the layers of his clothes. "Don't let it get to your big head."

"You know I'm not famous because I wanted it," he drawled and wrapped his arms around her waist, crushing the newspaper between them. She returned the embrace and allowed him to rest his hands comfortably on her hip.

"I know." Hitomi smiled into his shoulder and breathed him in, the scent of clouds and cold sunshine sticking to his jacket. "You didn't have to wait here in the cold. You could've come inside, Yukari and Merle would've loved to see you."

"I know." He rested his head on her shoulder and she felt him exhale deeply.

He had just started to relax around her friends, letting his usually tense shoulders sag for a few minutes and restraining this calculating, assessing look with which he usually regarded people but he was not yet completely comfortable. He had accepted them like he had accepted Vargas and Millerna, without handing out his trust in his open palm though. His fingers were curled tightly around it, protective, and they wouldn't let go for a while. He would keep his distance and she would be patient.

"How was work?" Van finally asked after breathing in the silence and the words that didn't need to be spoken between them.

Hitomi let go of him with a sigh and immediately crossed her arms in front of her chest in an attempt to keep his warmth with her a little longer. She shrugged. "It was okay. The usual, you know, nice customers who give a tip that makes me grin for an hour and not so nice customers that make me want to curse them through my smile."

His laughter was soft and made a feeling settle in the pit of her stomach that was warm and thick like hot chocolate. He shoved his hands deep in his jean pockets and she noticed his eyes dart from her face to a spot beyond her shoulder.

Although most of the time he seemed to be oblivious to the heads that turned around him, the necks that were being craned and the hushed whispers, ignoring the attention that clung to him like stale cigarette smoke, she knew he was anything but. Van was well aware, feeling the stares and hearing the words as if they had been spoken into his face. The time that had passed wasn't yet enough for people to accept his existence, wasn't enough to compensate for what he had said and the discussions his words had incited to decrease.

His body was tense and she knew he was still having a hard time reining his temper. Within the last month he had, however, learned that ignoring the people was better than blowing up in their faces. It was after all a two-way process; if he wanted people to accept him and his being different, he had to accept them and their curiosity in return.

"Well, where is it?" Hitomi asked, breaking into his thoughts, and he focused his attention back on her with a grateful smile.

"Right here," Van replied and patted the saddle of the beat-up bicycle that was slouching against the pole. It looked ancient and very tired of carrying people. The paint was crumbling, making room for rust that was growing along the frame like ivy.

"It's a bike."

Van chuckled at the incredulous tone of her voice. She raised one brow at him and turned back around to stare at his bicycle, probably contemplating if he was kidding her or not. He watched the crease on her forehead deepen.

The way his gaze lingered on her like a fine drizzle, warm and with the ability to soak her to her very core, reminded her of the way he had looked at her that day he had appeared on her doorstep after she hadn't heard from him in weeks. He had been too busy dealing with worldwide public attention and she had been too busy avoiding just the same. She had missed him and had not known how to tell him and suddenly he had been at her door with a blush on his cheeks, a stream of incoherent words coming out of his mouth and the promise of something beautiful in his eyes.

"No really, Hitomi? I wouldn't have guessed." His sarcastic remark made her turn to face him and his teeth showed when he grinned widely. "Didn't expect that, did you?"

She cast him a lop-sided smile. "No, I surely didn't expect that when you said Folken got you a vehicle. I didn't expect a Porsche but I thought it'd sport at least ---"

"...four tyres?" His eyes sparkled in amusement.

"...an engine," she finished with a pointed look and blinked in surprise when the streetlamp switched to life above their heads. Dusk had slowly started to creep across the sky and darkness had settled unnoticed in the streets.

Van snorted out a laugh and when the wind picked up it reached with invisible fingers to ruffle his hair. "Who are you kidding? How could a kid with as sad an excuse of an income as I, no birth certificate, no social security card and no driving licence, just to name a few, possibly afford a car?" He walked toward the bike and patted the saddle fondly. "I'm glad Folken came up with that at all."

"Well, at least you could have gotten a bike that would have at least seemed as if it could last you down 2nd Avenue." She watched in disbelieving fascination when he proceeded to open the U-lock. "Don't tell me you actually locked that piece of –-- "

"Careful what you say there," Van interrupted her and light-heartedly wagged his index finger. His eyes had softened at the corners in a way that betrayed his playfulness and told her just how unwilling he was to admit it. "There's a lot of emotional value attached to this bike. It was my dad's."

It was strange that he could be so fond of something that belonged to a man he didn't even know. Folken had started to fill him in on their parents, sketching lines and etches and character into the flat faces he knew from photographs. But no matter how many little stories Folken told him on how their dad almost burned down the entire house when preparing a meal by himself for the first time in his life or how their mom would spy on Folken and his girlfriend he couldn't wipe away this clammy feeling that had settled deep within him, the feeling that they would always be strangers.

He was fighting a lost battle and clung to every memory Folken shared with him as if they were his own, making them his own.

He felt Hitomi's eyes studying him and knew she was following his every thought that was clearly displayed in a flood of emotions across his face. He didn't mind. Returning her warm smile, he clasped the lock around the saddle and stuffed the key back in his pocket. "The bike is a legend. Folken told me some stories."

Hitomi wrinkled her nose when looking up at him, knowing how much it meant to him, knowing he would tell her later. In the few months she had known Van, she had learned that patience was the most effective tool when it came to him. He usually didn't tell her right away when something was bothering him.

There had been times he had waited for days and until three in the morning to call and tell her what was on his mind.

"How's Folken? I haven't seen him in a while."

"He's busy." Van shrugged and wheeled his bike around the pole it had been wrapped around. The handlebars were cold in his palms and the tyres scrunched across the pavement. "You know him."

Living with his brother was different than he had expected. On the one hand he wished Folken had more time that they could spent getting to know each other, on the other hand he felt as if Folken was suffocating him with his attention. He was treating Van like a two year old, acting as if the last two decades did not exist.

"And he's sulking because he doesn't agree with Dryden's means of getting my medication and of getting me into uni next semester."

"Hmm. Any news from Dryden about that?" Hitomi fell in step beside him when he manoeuvred his bike down the sidewalk toward the closest traffic light. She made an effort of stepping on his orange shadow that the streetlamps cast on the sidewalk.

Van made an incredulous noise. "Dryden wasn't of much help lately. He's going on a date with Millerna tonight and to say he was a nervous wreck would be an understatement."

"Poor Dryden. Millerna is really giving him a hard time." She tried to slip her hand casually in his but couldn't stop a silly grin from parting her lips.

His warm fingers immediately entwined with hers and he tugged her closer. "It was priceless to watch him behave like a nineteen-year-old."

She didn't even need to see the smirk on his face to know that he was referring to her behaviour when she was with him. A deep blush crept across the bridge of her nose and Van yelped at the forceful punch he received to his upper arm.

"You..." she trailed off when she saw the sparkle in his eyes.

"I like it when you're all flustered. It's cute." He squeezed her hand and bestowed a radiant smile upon her that was all white teeth, dimples and brilliant eyes. It pulled the ground from underneath her feet and had her falling.

They crossed the street at a traffic light that had just switched to _Walk_ and her heart beat in her throat when she watched his profile. She remembered the first time she had met him and noticed just how much he had changed since then. He had been confident back then in a natural kind of way which could be put down to the fact that he had never had a reason to doubt himself during the time in the lab. He was still radiating confidence in waves with every step he took, with every parting of a crowd, with every sideways glance at those who were talking about him, yet it had an almost calculating edge now.

And there was pride as well, shyly hiding behind broad shoulders and defiant eyes, indicating that he was slowly starting to accept himself the way he was in an environment so different from everything he had been used to.

She recalled the day they had gone to the concert and he had carried her on his shoulders. He seemed taller now she realized.

The smile that had played about her lips vanished when a thought struck her. "Hey, Van, do you remember Allen Schezar?"

He turned slightly to look at her and steered his bike onto the sidewalk with his free hand. "That very blonde guy?"

Hitomi chuckled. "Yeah, him. He called me last night. He apologized for trying to use me to get to you for a story he was working on."

"He used you?" Van exclaimed in surprise, stopping the bike beside a bench and pulling Hitomi softly out of the way of the people who were slowly meandering alongside the street, heading for the bus stop, heading to buy dinner, heading to an appointment, heading somewhere, anywhere. "And he apologized _now_? It's a little late, isn't it?"

"Well, at least he apologized at all," Hitomi replied and looked at Van's hand that was curled around her fingers.

She had avoided answering his first question on purpose. The answer would include too many embarrassing memories. She couldn't possibly tell Van that she had had a crush on Allen.

"And he says that he has got something for you." When she looked up at him she found him frowning. The light of a street lamp that filtered through the bare crown of a nearby tree cast edgy patterns across his face and chest. They seemed to move softly against his cheeks like bony fingers. "It's his father's journal. He said his father had investigated Dornkirk Inc. for decades and thought you might be interested."

Van stared at the pavement where the shadows melted into light. Her words bounced in his mind and realizing that their echo was his answer he let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding. "I think I won't need it anymore but thanks for telling me."

She waited until the breath that had gathered in front of his lips dispersed before she spoke. "You're welcome."

Her words had already faded yet she was still searching his eyes. She knew what to look for, had seen it one too many times. Her brows unfurled and a hesitant smile spread across her lips when she couldn't find it. "What do you wanna do now?"

He tugged her along with him and his rattling bike and his eyes glinted when he spoke, "Well, Miss Scatterbrain, I can't quite believe you already forgot that Vargas wanted to meet us for dinner today."

She glared at him from behind her blush. "Vargas is not going to stop looking out for you anytime soon, is he? And I'm not scatterbrained."

A faint smile touched his lips that was made of both, doubt and hope. "Vargas is not going to stop looking out for me until I turn fifty-eight with 3 kids, a dog and a mortgage that's been paid off for 7 years at least. And yes, you are scatterbrained. I'd even dare say you suffer from a severe case of memory-deficit disorder. May I remind you of the time you…"

She punched him hard in the arm and people turned when he threw his head back and laughed.

* * *

The End

* * *

A/N: This is it. Took me a loooong time but I finally finished my baby I know I didn't answer all the questions and didn't explain what happened to everybody but I tried to give glimpses of what is going on in the lives of the other characters. I'm pretty satisfied with the way it turned out and I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks to everybody who stuck with me all these years and didn't give up on the possibility of me updating and everybody who joined somewhere along the way :P Thanks to everybody who reviewed, I really really appreciate all the reviews and I'm sorry I never managed to reply to all of them. Thanks also to everybody who read and never came around to review...I'm pretty much like that as well ::grins:: 

I won't be gone for long though since I've still got one story out there and no, I haven't forgotten about it. It shall be finished one day. The next chapter is pretty much done, I dare say ::winks::

Thanks,

Dariel


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